A US judge on Friday sentenced a Canadian born in Saudi Arabia to life in prison after he pleaded guilty in December to helping Islamic State by working with propagandists who publicized the group’s beheading of hostages, including American journalist James Foley.
Mohammed Khalifa, 39, who grew up in Toronto and left Canada in 2013 for Syria, killed two Syrian soldiers on behalf of the group before being captured by US-backed Kurdish forces in 2019, the Department said of Justice in a statement about his sentence. .
He was transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in October last year and pleaded guilty on December 10 to providing material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, resulting in death, he say the department
His life sentence was ordered by US Superior District Judge TS Ellis of the Eastern District of Virginia, where his trial took place.
Islamic State gained global notoriety after releasing videos in 2014 of the beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines.
Khalifa worked in the unit that released the videos, U.S. prosecutors said.