Alexanda Kotey, a 38-year-old former British national and member of the notorious ISIS terror cell known as ‘the Beatles’, was sentenced to life in prison by Judge Thomas Selby Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Friday.

Kotey had previously pled guilty in September of 2021 to terrorism-related charges of lethal hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit murder. The cell also comprised British-born foreign fighters Mohammad Emwazi (known globally as “Jihadi John”), Aine Lesley Davis, and El Shafee Elsheikh, who was convicted of the same charges as Kotey on April 14.

Kotey, per a statement of facts agreed upon by prosecutors, participated in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of 26 foreign nationals between 2012 and 2015. These included four Americans: journalists James Foley and Steven Soltoff, aid worker Peter Kassig, and human rights activist Kayla Mueller. Foley, Soltoff, and Kassig were beheaded on camera by Emwazi – who was killed in a Coalition drone strike in 2015 – while Mueller was enslaved and raped by the late ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, before being killed in 2019.

The cell’s name ‘the Beatles’ derived from its members’ British upbringing, London accents, and habit of forcing hostages to rewrite popular Western music (e.g., Hotel California) with Jihadist-inspired lyrics. A witness at ElSheikh’s trial described them as members of the “ISIS aristocracy” for their high-profile roles.

Kotey was captured by Peshmerga forces of Iraqi Kurdistan in January of 2018. He was then transferred over to U.S. Forces in Iraq and flown to the U.S. mainland in 2020 to stand trial.

During the sentencing hearing, Judge Ellis said that Kotey’s actions were “egregious, violent and inhumane,” though he had “seems to have some remorse.” Ellis concluded his sentencing statement by telling Kotey, “If there is [an afterlife], maybe you can recompense there.”

Kotey declined to speak before the court, but several family members of his victims were present and delivered victim impact statements for the record. Michael Foley, the brother of James Foley, said that he pities Kotey “for succumbing to hate…[James] would want them to spend the rest of their lives in prison to reflect.”

Bethany Haines, the daughter of David Haines, a British citizen captured and killed by the cell, said “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since before my dad was taken. I wake up during the night hearing my dad’s screams as he is being tortured by these men.” Haines’s brother, Michael, delivered the final impact statement, saying “you inflicted more pain than I can ever put into words.” However, he added “For the first time, you have no power over me and mine. I forgive you.”

Kotey and Elsheikh – who was present in the courtroom during Kotey’s sentencing – were stripped of their British citizenship in 2018 and are stateless. Per an extradition agreement with the U.K., lead Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh declined to seek the death penalty, though both were eligible to be executed. Per the agreement, after 15 years of imprisonment in the U.S., Kotey will be transferred to the U.K. to serve the remainder of his sentence.