No matter how long it takes - Justice will always balance the scales -Isis member pleads guilty

“Beatles’ Member Admits to Participating in Hostage-Taking Scheme that Resulted in the Deaths of American, British and Japanese Citizens…

Factual Background of Alexana Amon Kotey

See the January 10, 2017 State Department Terrorist Designation of Isis Militant Kotey

See October 2020 Indictment DOJ -Alexanda Amon Kotey Indictment

The Oct 2020 indictment (see DOJ-OPA), alleged from 2012 to 2015

• Kotey, Elsheikh, Mohamed Emwazi (deceased), and a fourth British citizen (CC-1) currently incarcerated in Turkey, were ISIS fighters and participated in the abduction of American and European hostages in Syria.

• The Isis Terrorist also engaged “in a prolonged pattern of physical and psychological violence against the hostages, including against American citizens James Wright Foley, Kayla Jean Mueller, Steven Joel Sotloff, and Peter Edward Kassig. Due to their English accents and their history together in the United Kingdom, the four men were often referred to by hostages as “The Beatles”…”

• As alleged in the Indictment - from August 2014 through October 2014, ISIS released videos which depicted Emwazi’s heinous beheadings of Foley, Sotloff, and British citizens David Haines and Alan Henning.

  • In November 2014, ISIS released a video depicting the decapitated head of Kassig. In January 2015, ISIS released videos with images of two dead Japanese citizens.

The Indictment further alleges that Kotey, Elsheikh, and Emwazi, worked closely with and at the direction of Abu Muhammed al-Adnani. A former ISIS commander and (then) chief media spokesperson. In August of 2016 the US Military conducted a military airstrike killing Abu Muhammed al-Adnani.

• …al-Adnani reported directly to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the former self-proclaimed leader of ISIS. Baghdadi was killed during a United States military operation in Syria in October 2019.

Remember their names - Isis brutally murdered them

• James Wright Foley,

• Kayla Jean Mueller,

• Steven Joel Sotloff, and

• Peter Edward Kassig.

Alexana Amon Kotey Plea Agreement

There is a very interesting provision contained within Defendant Kotey Plea Agreement and I’ll admit it was kind of shocking to read but I actually suspect it might have been the smartest legal maneuver by US Prosectors & UK Prosecutors to address the following;

Supreme Court ruled on 25 March 2020 on two questions: (i) whether it is unlawful for the Secretary of State to exercise his power to grant an MLA request that could lead to the imposition of the death penalty and (ii) whether it is lawful under the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘DPA’), for law enforcement authorities in the UK to transfer personal data to law enforcement authorities abroad for use in capital criminal proceedings.

Defendant Kotey pleaded guilty to all of the offenses charged in the eight-count indictment;

• one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking resulting in death;

• four counts of hostage taking resulting in the deaths of the four Americans James Wright Foley, Kayla Jean Mueller, Steven Joel Sotloff and Peter Edward Kassig;

• one count of conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens outside of the United States;

• one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to terrorists resulting in the deaths of U.S., British and Japanese nationals; and

• one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in the deaths of U.S., British and Japanese nationals.

The statutorily mandate means Defendant Kotey shall be sentence of life in prison per count resulting in the death of our four Americans. So that’s life in prison multiplied by at least four. Defendant Kotey is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4, 2022 - however- the Government agreed per the terms and conditions of the Plea Agreement - I now refer you to page 6 of Defendant Kotey Plea Agreement

after 15 years of the defendant’s imprisonment in the United States, if the defendant has complied with all terms of the plea agreement and requests a transfer to the United Kingdom…

the other notable carves out of Defendant Kotey’s Plea Agreement reads in part:

If the actual sentence he serves in the U.K. is less than life for any reason, Kotey has agreed to serve the remainder of his U.S.-imposed life sentence in the U.K., if that is legally available, or to be transferred back to the United States to serve the remainder of his sentence.

the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and Kotey understand and agree that – even if all of the necessary preconditions are met – the acceptance of any such requested transfer would be subject to the discretion of the United Kingdom. As indicated in the plea agreement, should the U.K. government deny any such requested transfer, Kotey will serve his mandatory life sentence in the United States. 

in short the non-legalese is Defendant Kotey will never be free, he will serve the rest of his natural life in prison, whether here in our BOP or in the United Kingdom. He brutally tortured and murdered four American citizens, British citizens and Japanese Citizens. Furthermore Defendant Kotey participated in hostage operations involving British, Italian, Danish and German nationals.

Defendant Kotey Statement of Facts

To be fair the Statement of Facts contain a lot of horrific details and I feel a sense of obligation to warn you. But the reality is the murderous acts the Defendant and his co-conspirator committed - can only be accurately described as barbaric, heinous and evil. Defendant Kotey Statement of Facts - As alleged in the Statement of Facts:

November 2012 through on or about February 7, 2015, within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, the defendant did knowingly conspire with El Shafee Elsheikh, Mohamed Emwazi, and others, to commit hostage taking resulting in death in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1203(a). The commission of this offense resulted in the deaths of American citizens James Wright Foley, Kayla Jean Mueller, Steven Joel Sotloff, and Peter Edward Kassig.

Kotey and two other ISIS members supervised the terrorist organization’s jails and detention facilities at which the hostages were held and were responsible for transferring hostages between detention facilities. Kotey and his co-conspirators engaged in a prolonged pattern of physical and psychological violence against hostages that was meant as an effort to control the hostages.

These actions were also intended to compel the victims’ family members and the U.S. government to pay large monetary ransoms for their release, in addition to compelling the U.S. government to agree to other terms and conditions for the victims’ return.

Again you can read the DOJ-OPA Press Release in it’s entirety, found here which also includes the following Attachment(s): 

Download Kotey Plea Agreement

Download Kotey Statement of Facts

Nothing will bring the four Americans back but I hope this Plea Agreement helps them find solace and assist in their grieving process. No matter how long it takes, in the end Justice will be done and thus balancing the scales.

-Filey