US: alleged member of Islamic State expected to plead guilty

The District Court of the United States in Alexandria, Virginia, has scheduled hearings against defendants Alexanda Amon Cotey on September 2nd.

He is 36 and was part of one of the four IS members who were named by their captives “Beatles” due to their British accent.

Kotey and another British national, El Shafee Elsheik, were brought to the United States last year to face charges. There is no record in the court's documents whether even 32-year-old Elsheik had reached an agreement to plead guilty.

The indictment charges the two defendants with the deaths of four American hostages -- journalist James Foley, journalist Steven Solloff and humanitarian employees, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.

They are also suspected of the death of British and European hostages held in Syria.

The charges include kidnapping resulting in death and plotting to kill American citizens outside the United States. For both of these charges, the maximum sentence of life imprisonment is provided.

The two British citizens were captured in 2018 by members of a Kurdish militia that was supported by the US in Syria.

The group they belonged to was known for their barbarous treatment of their captives. They filmed and posted videos on the Internet when their prisoners tortured and cut their heads off.

This gang operating within the IS was responsible for the deaths of hostages in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Great Britain obtained citizenship from both of the pendhurs, allowing their transfer to the United States but only after the US Department of Justice promised London that these two people would not face the death penalty.

The alleged leader of this IS group, Mohammed Emwazi, known as “Gihadi John”, died of a fearful attack in 2016.

Another member is serving a prison sentence in Turkey.