Member of brutal Islamic State group ‘Beatles’ cell pleads guilty in hostage cases

A member of a notorious cell of four British Islamic State group members who tortured Western hostages pleaded guilty Thursday in a federal courtroom filled with family members of the group’s American victims, some of whom were beheaded for propaganda videos seen around the world.

Alexanda Kotey, 37, was part of an Islamic State group cell of four Britons called “the Beatles” — a nickname given by their victims because of their accents — and known for their extreme brutality.

The group kidnapped and abused more than two dozen hostages, including US journalists James Foley and Steven J. Sotloff in 2014, both of whom were beheaded in propaganda videos. Another two Americans were also killed: Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.

As families of all four victims sat silently in the courtroom Thursday, Kotey recounted calmly and without emotion his crimes and his involvement in the hostage-tasking schemes. He said he knew what would happen to the hostages if their governments did not fulfill the ransom demands, which he had emailed to the families.

Failure to comply, he said, “would ultimately result in either indefinite detention of those foreign captives or their execution.”

He pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit hostage taking resulting in death and conspiracy to murder US citizens outside the United States. As part of the plea deal, if Kotey fulfills his cooperation requirements, he could be sent to Britain after 15 years to complete the remainder of a mandatory life sentence.

The British government would have to agree to accept Kotey, who would also have to plead guilty to British crimes. He will also meet with the hostage families if they want to speak with him, under the agreement.

Kotey was captured in Syria by a Kurdish-backed militia in 2018, along with El Shafee Elsheikh as they tried to flee to Turkey. Elsheikh, 33, has pleaded not guilty and has not struck a plea deal with prosecutors. Should Elsheikh decide to take his chances at trial, Kotey’s plea agreement does not require that he testify against him.

The families declined to speak during the hearing, which was held on the seventh anniversary of Sotloff’s death. They intend to speak at Kotey’s sentencing hearing in March.