A man who formerly lived in St. Louis Park has pleaded guilty in federal court to providing material support to ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The plea by Abdelhamid Al-Madioum, 24, was announced by U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald, who specified that Al-Madioum offered support in the form of personal services to ISIS.
According to Al-Madioum’s guilty plea and documents filed with the court, on June 23, 2015, Al-Madioum and his family traveled from St. Louis Park, Minnesota, to Casablanca, Morocco, to visit their extended family. On July 8, 2015, Al-Madioum left Morocco and traveled to Istanbul, Turkey. Once there, Al-Madioum met up with members of ISIS who aided his border-crossing into Syria. Once in Syria, Al-Madioum joined other members of ISIS who brought him to Mosul, Iraq.
Court documents state further that after Al-Madioum arrived in Mosul, he enrolled into ISIS and received military training from its members. Al-Madioum was then assigned to the Tariq Bin-Ziyad Battalion of the Abu Mutaz al-Qurashi Division of ISIS, where he served as a solider for ISIS until 2016, when he was injured conducting military activities on behalf of ISIS. The criminal complaint states that Al-Madioum said he had been injured in an airstrike in Mosul, resulting in injuries to both of his legs and the loss of his right arm above the elbow.
Following his injury, Al-Madioum remained a member of ISIS and continued to receive a stipend until his surrender to Syrian Democratic Forces in or near Baghouz, Syria, in March of 2019, court documents say. In September of 2020, Al-Madioum was returned to Minnesota.
According to other Justice Department information, Al-Madioum is a native of Morocco and naturalized U.S. citizen.
Al-Madioum is expected to be sentenced in May to fifteen years in prison. He remains in custody at Sherburne County Jail.
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