A man who once plotted to set off bombs in Times Square and the subway system has been sentenced to an additional 50 years in federal prison for stabbing a correctional officer in the head and face, blinding him in one eye. Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, now 28 and originally from Ontario, Canada, will serve the new term consecutively to his existing 40-year sentence, bringing his combined total to 90 years behind bars.
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania handed down the sentence on Monday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, which confirmed the 50-year term runs consecutively to his earlier 40-year sentence for a combined 90 years in custody. As the New York Post reports, El Bahnasawy pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the December 2020 attack at U.S. Penitentiary Allenwood, where he stabbed a male correctional officer in the head and face using a makeshift weapon fashioned from a steel desk part, costing him the use of his right eye. A second officer, a woman who came to help, was stabbed in the hand, per the same report.
A Note Left Behind Pointed to ISIS
Investigators found a note in El Bahnasawy's sock stating the attack was carried out for the Islamic State, and authorities also discovered an ISIS pledge of allegiance taped inside a locker in his cell, the Post notes. He ultimately pleaded guilty in November 2025 to assault with intent to commit murder, possessing prison contraband, and providing material support to ISIS. Federal prosecutors framed that final charge under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B, which, as Homeland Security Today explains, covers re-pledging allegiance to the group while detained inside a federal facility.
Federal prosecutors said prison did little to curb El Bahnasawy's appetite for violence, according to the Post's account of the sentencing. John A. Eisenberg said the sentence would keep El Bahnasawy in prison where he could do less harm, the outlet reported.
The Thwarted 2016 New York Plot
El Bahnasawy was 18 years old when federal agents arrested him in New Jersey in May 2016 while he was traveling on a family road trip from Canada, according to CBC News. Before his arrest, he had purchased 40 pounds of hydrogen peroxide along with batteries, thermometers, and Christmas lights to manufacture TATP explosives, shipping the materials to an undercover FBI agent posing as a fellow ISIS supporter, according to a government sentencing memorandum cited by George Washington University's Program on Extremism. The Post reports he wanted to create the next 9/11, with plans that involved bombs in Times Square and the subway system along with gunfire aimed at concert crowds during Ramadan.
Encrypted communications intercepted by law enforcement in 2016 showed El Bahnasawy citing the November 2015 Paris Bataclan theater attack as tactical inspiration for his planned mass shootings at New York concert venues, according to The Guardian. The plot involved international co-conspirators, including Talha Haroon, a U.S. citizen living in Pakistan who consulted with explosives experts, and Russell Salic, a Philippine orthopedic surgeon who wired funds to help finance the operation, the paper reported. El Bahnasawy pleaded guilty in October 2016 to seven federal terrorism counts and was originally sentenced to 40 years in prison in December 2018 by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman in Manhattan.
Defense Points to Years of Untreated Mental Illness
Defense attorney Andy Frisch blamed the prison assault on El Bahnasawy's longstanding mental health problems and accused federal authorities of failing to provide adequate psychiatric care, according to the Post. Frisch said a government expert confirmed El Bahnasawy had schizophrenia and psychotic disorders, and that a psychotic episode resulted in his latest sentence.
Frisch said El Bahnasawy's parents repeatedly emailed prison officials about the medication and treatment their son required, and that those emails were ignored. He blamed inadequate treatment, segregation, and transfers between prisons for worsening El Bahnasawy's condition, and called for the United States to reconsider its management of mentally ill inmates. After his transfer from USP Allenwood to the supermaximum security ADX Florence facility in Colorado, his family expressed concern that he needed psychiatric help. El Bahnasawy and his parents are considering their options on a possible appeal, the Post reported, and the outlet said it had sought comment from the Justice Department.
Mother's School Board Run Keeps Case in the Spotlight
The case has remained a live political issue in Canada, where El Bahnasawy's mother, Khadiga Metwally, is running for a school board seat in suburban Toronto. She registered in June to run for trustee of the Halton District School Board in Milton, Ontario, maintaining publicly that her son was a mentally ill teenager exploited by undercover agents, according to Juno News.
That framing has drawn pushback from Canadian authorities. On October 12, 2023, Canada's National Security and Intelligence Review Agency concluded an official review finding no evidence that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police entrapped El Bahnasawy during the joint 2016 investigation with the FBI. With the new 50-year sentence now layered atop his original term, El Bahnasawy, barring a successful appeal, is expected to remain in federal custody for the rest of his life.
