Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, already serving 40 years for an ISIS plot against New York City, was sentenced to 50 more years for stabbing two federal prison officers.

The Justice Department points to the note found in his sock: "This is a terrorist attack for the Islamic State." His lawyer points to schizophrenia and to parents who say they begged the prison for his medication. Both can be true in the same file. The guilty plea settled what he did. The harder question his lawyer is raising, how federal prisons handle mentally ill inmates convicted of terrorism, is not one a sentencing judge can answer.

Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, 28, of Ontario, Canada, was sentenced Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, to 50 years in federal prison for attacking two correctional officers at U.S. Penitentiary Allenwood in Pennsylvania, the Justice Department announced. The sentence will run consecutive to the 40-year term he is already serving for his role in plotting a mass-casualty attack in New York City on behalf of ISIS, the department said. The New York Post reported that brings his combined sentence to 90 years.

According to the Justice Department, on Dec. 7, 2020, El Bahnasawy attacked the officers with a weapon made from part of a steel desk in his cell. He stabbed one officer in the head and face, and when a second officer came to help, he stabbed her in the hand, the department said. The first officer eventually lost his right eye. When El Bahnasawy was restrained, a note was found in his sock that read, "This is a terrorist attack for the Islamic State," and a pledge of allegiance to ISIS was found taped inside a locker door in his cell, according to the department. He pleaded guilty in November 2025 to multiple counts of assault, assault with intent to commit murder and possession of contraband in prison, as well as providing material support to ISIS, the department said.

"Bahnasawy, who is already serving a 40-year sentence in federal prison for plotting mass casualty attacks in New York City on behalf of ISIS, savagely attacked corrections officers once again on behalf of ISIS," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in the department's announcement. U.S. Attorney Brian D. Miller of the Middle District of Pennsylvania said the sentence "reflects our unwavering commitment to fight those who perpetrate violence in the name of ISIS even behind prison walls." The FBI's Philadelphia Field Office investigated the case.

El Bahnasawy's attorney, Andy Frisch, told the New York Post that the prison attack grew out of his client's long-standing mental health problems, and he accused federal authorities of failing to provide adequate psychiatric care. "He's not a terrorist," Frisch told the Post, saying a government expert had confirmed diagnoses including schizophrenia and psychotic disorders. Frisch said El Bahnasawy's parents repeatedly emailed prison officials about the medication and treatment their son needed, and that "he had a psychotic episode, which has resulted in this most recent sentence," the Post reported. Asked whether there would be an appeal, Frisch said El Bahnasawy and his parents "are considering their options," according to the Post.

The original case dates to 2016, when El Bahnasawy plotted with Talha Haroon and Russell Salic to carry out bombings and shootings in crowded parts of New York City during Ramadan in the name of ISIS, the Justice Department said. An undercover FBI agent posing as an ISIS supporter infiltrated the plot, and the FBI arrested El Bahnasawy in May 2016 after he traveled from Canada to the New York area to prepare for the attacks, according to the department. The Post reported that the plan targeted Times Square, the subway system and concert crowds. He has been in custody since that arrest, and Monday's sentence followed his guilty plea, not a trial. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.