{"id":469319,"date":"2026-09-19T19:34:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T19:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/469319\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T19:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T19:34:20","slug":"california-judge-sentences-former-syrian-prison-boss-to-60-years-for-torturing-inmates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/469319\/","title":{"rendered":"California judge sentences former Syrian prison boss to 60 years for torturing inmates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A federal judge in California has sentenced a former Syrian prison warden to 60 years for torturing inmates and lying to immigration officials to get into the United States.<\/p>\n

A jury convicted<\/a> Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 74, in March of conspiracy to commit torture, three counts of torture, one count of visa fraud and one count of attempted naturalization fraud, according to the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n

Alsheikh was involved in torturing political dissidents to deter opposition to the regime of then-Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to the Justice Department. <\/p>\n

Government officials say Alsheikh is the highest-ranking former member of the Assad regime to be tried and convicted in person outside Syria.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department had sought no fewer than 80 years in prison, while Alsheikh requested five years, citing his age and his chronic medical conditions.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration <\/p>\n

Victims at the trial testified about being fastened to a device known as the \u201cFlying Carpet,\u201d which folded their bodies in half at the waist.<\/p>\n

(U.S. Department of Justice)<\/p>\n

In handing down the sentence on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Hern\u00e1n Vera remarked on the \u201cutter reprehensibility\u201d of Alsheikh\u2019s crime, Courthouse News Service reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conduct was heinous, unimaginably cruel and unspeakably violent and brutal,\u201d the judge reportedly said.<\/p>\n

Nina Marino, Alsheikh\u2019s attorney, said her client plans to appeal the sentence. <\/p>\n

In a statement, First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said he hoped the sentence \u201cgives some semblance of healing and closure to this defendant\u2019s victims.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCriminals who inflict the type of savage brutality that this defendant did on his victims must never be granted refuge in our country,\u201d Essayli said.<\/p>\n

During Alsheikh\u2019s trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Alsheikh ordered and participated in the torture of prisoners while he headed the Adra Prison, also known as Damascus Central Prison, from around 2005 to 2008.<\/p>\n

Jurors heard testimony from three of Alsheikh\u2019s victims<\/a> who said they were packed into small, filthy, cold, wet cells that were infested with insects and other vermin. They described being tortured and seeing and hearing the torture of other prisoners.<\/p>\n

The victims testified about being fastened to a device known as the \u201cFlying Carpet,\u201d which folded their bodies in half at the waist; about being manacled to the ceiling and suspended sometimes for days; and about being beaten while immobilized inside tires, according to the U.S. attorney\u2019s office in L.A. <\/p>\n

During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that when detainees refused Alsheikh\u2019s orders to harm political prisoners, he ordered them to be sent to an underground section of the prison known as Wing 13, where they were tortured.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors also presented evidence that Alsheikh, who came to the country in 2020, lied to U.S. immigration authorities about his background to secure a green card and also on an application to naturalize as a U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n

Alsheikh has been in custody since his arrest at Los Angeles International Airport in July 2024.<\/p>\n

Khaled Abdul Malek, who testified about being detained and tortured under Alsheikh\u2019s direction, praised the sentence in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe land of freedom will never be a safe haven for slaughterers and those who committed crimes against humanity,\u201d Malek said. \u201cThis trial is not the end, but the first step on the road toward accountability and justice for everyone whose hands have been stained with the blood of innocent people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal judge in California has sentenced a former Syrian prison warden to 60 years for torturing inmates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[184721,7,9,16051,8,5744,4744,184722,22976,4515,2901,7214,21889,35952,1428,5783,2601,72],"class_list":["post-469319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-alsheikh","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-judge","tag-california-news","tag-count","tag-evidence","tag-former-syrian-prison-boss","tag-inmate","tag-justice-department","tag-prison","tag-prosecutor","tag-sentence","tag-torture","tag-trial","tag-u-s-attorney","tag-victim","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}