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A St. Louis Park, Minn., man pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to fighting with ISIS in Iraq and Syria. 

Abdelhamid Al-Madioum, 24, is due to be sentenced May 26 on a single count of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Via Zoom from the Sherburne County Jail, Al-Madioum told U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery how he slipped away from a family trip to Morocco in 2015, bought a plane ticket to Istanbul, and crossed the border from Turkey to Syria with members of ISIS.

After entering Syria, Al-Madioum went to Mosul, Iraq, where he was officially enrolled in the terrorist organization, began receiving military training, and was assigned to a "battalion."

Al-Madioum said he was a soldier for ISIS until he lost an arm and could no longer fight, adding that he lied to journalists during 

He surrendered to the Syrian Defense Forces near Baghouz, Syria in 2019. He was imprisoned in Syria until the FBI picked him up.

Minnesota man faces terror charge for allegedly joining ISIS

Al-Madioum was born in Morocco and immigrated to the U.S. as a child before he was naturalized as an American citizen. He attended Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minn., for a short time.

According to court documents, Al-Madioum traveled to Morocco for a two-month vacation to visit relatives. On July 7, 2015, he skipped dinner saying he wasn’t feeling well and was gone the next day. 

The FBI searched Al-Madioum's home and found notes indicating his plans to travel to Syria. They included alternative travel plans as well as a fabricated backstory in case he was stopped.

Nine Minnesota men were sentenced in 2016 for attempting to join ISIS. Their sentences varied. But a judge sent Guled Omar, the group’s ringleader, to federal prison for 

3 of 9 Twin Cities men sentenced in ISIS conspiracy trial

Crime, Law and Justice

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Matt Sepic

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Abdelhamid Al-Madioum, 24, is due to be sentenced May 26 on a single count of providing material support to designated foreign terrorist organization. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

St. Louis Park man pleads guilty to joining ISIS

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