
A federal appeals court upheld the conviction Friday of a British national for his role in a hostage-taking scheme by the Islamic State group that took roughly two dozen Westerners captive a decade ago.
El Shafee Elsheikh was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2022 in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. His jury trial established that he was one he was one of the notorious “Beatles,” captors nicknamed for their accents and known for torturing and beating prisoners.