Two Somali Officials Sentenced to 30 Years for Kidnapping American Journalist

Two Somali nationals, Abdi Yusuf Hassan and Mohamed Tahlil Mohamed, have been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison each for their involvement in the kidnapping and nearly three-year hostage situation of American journalist Michael Scott Moore. Reports indicate that the pair exploited their government positions in Somalia as a senior security official and an army officer, respectively, to perpetrate the crime and demand ransom, as the

United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York

announced yesterday.

Michael Scott Moore traveled to Somalia in 2012 to garner a deeper understanding of piracy and the local economy, but his inquiry turned nightmarish when abducted on January 21, 2012, in Galkayo, Somalia. Moore was brutally assaulted and subsequently subjected to a series of relocations, including time spent aboard a hijacked vessel along with other hostages from various backgrounds, as detailed by the

U.S. Attorney’s Office

. During this ordeal, Moore was exposed to the murder of the captain of the hijacked ship, Naham III, his body chillingly presented in the ship’s freezer.

In a harrowing reflection of their control, captors, including Hassan and Mohamed, coerced Moore into creating proof-of-life videos and manipulated his fate against the will and to the anguish of his family. “Hassan and Mohamed were key players in that hostage taking,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, according to the

U.S. Attorney’s Office

. “Both abused their positions in Somalia’s government—Hassan, as a senior security official, and Mohamed as an army officer—by keeping a U.S. citizen captive to satisfy their own greed.”

The abduction ceased 977 days later, in September 2014, when Moore was released following a ransom payment. The subsequent investigation and trial, involving international efforts and multiple law enforcement and security agencies, culminated in the February 2023 conviction of Hassan and Mohamed. In a statement obtained by the

U.S. Attorney’s Office

, Williams added, “Today’s sentences demonstrate our resolve to hold those who take Americans hostage accountable for their crimes.”

The collaborative efforts of the International Operations Division of the FBI, along with multiple other federal and international agencies, were critical in bringing closure to this case. Both Hassan and Mohamed have also been assigned a single day of supervised release post-sentence. The prosecution was spearheaded by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Adelsberg leading the charge and support from Trial Attorney Josh Champagne of the Counterterrorism Section.

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