Former Minnesota ISIS member granted early release after helping terrorism investigators

A Twin Cities man who joined the Islamic State group a decade ago left prison Tuesday after providing extensive help to the government in prosecuting other terrorism cases. In a rare move, a federal judge in Minneapolis cut Abdelhamid Al-Madioum’s 10-year sentence to time served with 15 years of supervised release.

Al-Madioum, 28, was born in Morocco and grew up in St. Louis Park as a naturalized American citizen in a culturally Muslim but non-religious family. After getting radicalized online, he absconded from a family trip to Morocco, traveled to Syria, and joined ISIS.

In a 2024 letter to U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery, Al-Madioum said that age 18 he was “young, ignorant and misguided” and fell for ISIS propaganda.

“What appealed to me was defending civilians against Syrian President Assad’s brutal chemical weapons and barrel bombs, redistributing vast oil wealth so that no one lived in poverty and ruling with an Islamic justice free from the corruption and bribery that plagues most Muslim countries,” Al-Madioum wrote. “That was the ISIS vision, and it was all a farce.”

Read more: Minnesota Public Radio