( NewsNation ) — A Somali man who became a naturalized U.S. citizen has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the 2012 kidnapping of American journalist Michael Scott Moore.
Abdi Yusuf Hassan, formerly of Minneapolis, and Somali citizen Mohamed Tahlil Mohamed were convicted in early 2023 of kidnapping and holding Moore for 977 days before Moore’s family paid a $1.6 million ransom.
“For nearly three years, Michael Scott Moore was held hostage in Somalia by pirates,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement. “He was beaten, chained to the floor, and threatened with assault rifles and machine guns. Hassan and Mohamed were key players in that hostage taking.”
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“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,” Williams added.
Hassan was arrested in Minneapolis in 2019, while Mohamed was arrested in New York City in 2018.