A would-be terrorist convicted of plotting assassinations and bombings alongside the notorious “Blind Sheik” Omar Abdel-Rahman is believed to have been freed from prison — but is in a comatose state at a federal lockup in North Carolina, according to court papers.
The convicted jihadist, Ibrahim El Gabrowny, appears to have completed his decades-long prison sentence on Wednesday, and federal authorities are now unsure what to do with his unresponsive body at a medical center at Butner correctional complex, according to an order filed by Manhattan federal Judge Kevin Castel.
“It is the Court’s understanding that Mr. El Gabrowny completed his term of
imprisonment on May 12, 2021,” Castel wrote.
“If the Court’s understanding is correct, then it would appear that as of the expiration of the term of imprisonment, Mr. El Gabrowny’s status changed from inmate at the facility to unresponsive medical patient at that facility,” Castel added.
In the document, Castel ordered prosecutors and a former attorney for the would-be terrorist to confirm he has indeed finished his sentence — and to draw up next steps in accordance with state law about where his body can be taken.
“The laws of the state where he presently resides and best medical practices would likely determine whether a discharge plan is required before he can be discharged, to what medical facility an indigent person may be discharged and who may make health care decisions for a medical patient in an unresponsive condition,” Castel wrote.
El Gabrowny was convicted in 1995 for conspiring with Abdel-Rahman and nine other Muslim jihadists to carry out bombings and assassinations as part of holy war in the United States.
El Gabrowny and another defendant in the case, El Sayyid Nosair, were acquitted of playing a direct role in the plot to bomb New York City landmarks, including tunnels and the UN headquarters, but convicted of the broader conspiracy charge, according to a New York Times report from the time.
The prosecution, which is among the biggest terror trials in US history, grew out of the investigation into the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six people.
In July of last year, another follower of the sheik, Victor Alvarez, was released from prison after serving some 30 years for his role in the plot to bomb landmarks across the city.
Alvarez — who said at a court hearing before his release that he wanted to be free of his psychiatric medicine — was dropped off at a Midtown homeless shelter after being cut loose.
