Islamic State 'Beatle' Alexanda Kotey sentenced to life in prison

A U.S. judge on Fridayimposed a lifetime prison sentence on a member of an ISIS (IslamicState in Iraq and Syria) militant group nicknamed "The Beatles" that beheadedAmerican hostages.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis in Alexandria, Va., heldan emotionally charged sentencing hearing for London-bornAlexanda Kotey, 38, who pleaded guilty to murdering U.S.journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers KaylaMueller and Peter Kassig.

Kotey's sentence was a foregone conclusion under a plea deal he entered last year. El Shafee Elsheikh, a second British national who was charged, will be formally sentenced in August and will also receive a life term. The death penalty was not an option under the terms of an agreement that allowed their extradition to the United States.

Kotey was specifically charged with conspiring in the kidnapping and deaths of the four Americans. Three of the hostages were beheaded, their deaths recorded on video and posted on the internet. Mueller's death, however, remains something of a mystery.The Islamic State said she was killed in a Jordanian airstrike, butthe U.S. government believes she was killed by ISIS.

The hostages held by Kotey and his fellow militants nicknamedthem "The Beatles" for their British accents. The hearingincluded testimony from victims' relatives.

Kotey admitted to inflicting torture on hostages, includingwaterboarding and electric shocks with a stun gun.

'I lost my faith in God'

Family members described the dread of knowing loved oneswere in captivity, and the grief they felt in the aftermath oftheir deaths.

"I will not hate you," Kassig's mother, Paula Kassig, saidto Kotey during the hearing. "It would give sadness, pain andbitterness too much power over me. I choose to let my heart bebroken open, not broken apart."

Mueller's father, Carl Mueller, said that during the ordeal, "I lost my faith in God, and I lost my faith in our government. My government left her there for 18 months. They would not allow us to negotiate."

He said the trial and prosecution of Koteyand Elsheikh restored his faith in government, prompting tears from the judge.

Kotey to meet with victims' families

Kotey's lawyer said during the court hearing that, in aneffort to "make amends," Kotey is meeting with some familymembers of victims.

Ellis agreed to keep Kotey detained in Alexandria until Julyand said that arrangement would facilitate those meetings.

Kotey declined to speak at Friday's hearing, referencing instead a 25-page letter he wrote to the court in advance of sentencing. The letter describes his conversion to Islam at age 19 and expresses some ambivalence about his actions, while also justifying brutality as a response to Western foreign policy.

"In retrospect, I can say that, throughout our endeavours, there were actions we took that demanded moral compromises," he wrote.

Kotey was a citizen of the United Kingdom, but the Britishgovernment withdrew his citizenship.

Kotey's lawyers had asked the judge to make a recommendationthat Kotey not be sent to Supermax prison in Colorado known asADX Florence, home to some of the world's most dangerouscriminals, including the Mexican drug kingpin, El Chapo.

Ellis declined to make any recommendation to the Bureau ofPrisons about where Kotey will eventually be sent. That meansKotey is likely heading to ADX Florence, but the federal Bureauof Prisons has yet to determine where to send Kotey.

U.S. authorities haveagreed to make theirbest efforts to transfer him to a prison in the United Kingdomafter 15 years.