ISIS ‘Beatle’ reportedly no longer in US custody
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Alexanda Kotey, former member of the infamous Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cell known as ‘the Beatles’, appears to no longer be listed as in custody at the high-security prison in Pennsylvania, US, where he had been serving a life sentence for crimes he committed while he was a member of the group since August 2022.
Bethany Haines, the daughter of one of Kotey’s 27 murder victims, says he is likely still within the US penal system. But “I don’t want to think that he has managed to negotiate his way into any kind of easy treatment on the basis of assisting authorities or anything else,” she told The Times.
A spokesperson for the US Federal Bureau of Prisons went on to clarify that convicts may appear to be outside of custody for a variety of reasons, including “for court hearings, medical treatment or for other reasons,” though he gave no further information.
Kotey was transferred to the US in October 2020 after being captured by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in January 2018 and held in US custody in Iraq in October 2019.
‘The Beatles’ are a four-men ISIS cell made up of ringleader Mohammed Emwazi (known as Jihadi John), Aine Davis, Alexanda Kotey, and El Shafee Elsheikh.
It is accused of kidnapping and murdering dozens of foreign hostages in Syria between 2012 and 2015.