Torture and enforced disappearances of perceived opponents and political dissidents were defining characteristics of the Assad regime in Syria, under Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez al-Assad before him. From Saydnaya to the Mezzeh Military Airport, Branch 251, and Tadmor, torture was endemic in the former government’s prisons.
On March 16, 2026, a federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Alsheikh of three counts of torture, one count of conspiracy to commit torture for his actions as head of Adra Prison between 2005 and 2008. He was also convicted of two counts of immigration fraud. In prosecuting Alsheikh for torture, the U. S. joins international efforts to hold Assad regime officials accountable for core international crimes.
According to the U.S. government, after Alsheikh moved to the United States in 2020, he obtained a green card and eventually applied for U.S. citizenship in 2023. Alsheikh was arrested at the Los Angeles Airport on July 10, 2024. An initial indictment was filed on August 8, 2024, charging Alsheikh with two counts of immigration fraud. Alsheikh allegedly submitted both his green card and citizenship applications with false information, concealing his role in torture, killings, and political persecution, as well as his involvement in Assad’s political party—the Syrian Ba’ath Party. The indictment alleged that political dissidents and other prisoners were severely physically mistreated during Alsheikh’s tenure as head of Adra Prison.
Alsheikh became the head of Adra Prison in 2005 and remained in that post until 2008. During that time, Alsheikh oversaw a secret underground “Punishment Wing”, also known as Wing 13. Wing 13 included a below-ground section that contained small isolation cells and a room in which prisoners were interrogated and tortured. From in or about 2005 and continuing through to in or about 2008, Alsheikh ordered prisoners to Wing 13 to be interrogated and tortured. Evidence at trial showed that Alsheikh monitored interrogations and torture from his office through surveillance cameras located in the Punishment Wing.
After his tenure at Adra, Alsheikh continued to work as an official in the Assad regime. During Alsheikh’s governorship of Deir Ez-Zour from around July 25, 2011, to January 2013, documentation groups reported a dramatic escalation of enforced disappearances, torture, indiscriminate shelling, and targeted attacks on peaceful protestors and civilians during that period.
On December 12, 2024 – just four days after the fall of the Assad regime – the Department of Justice filed a First Superseding Indictment, which added four torture-related charges against Alsheikh. Alsheikh pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
His trial began on March 3, 2026, and lasted nine days. On March 16, 2026, Alsheikh was found guilty by a jury of one count of conspiracy to commit torture, three counts of torture, one count of fraud in the possession and use of an immigration document, and one count of attempted naturalization fraud.
Alsheikh is due to be sentenced on September 17, 2026, in Los Angeles. The sentencing hearing will be open to the public. The hearing can be watched remotely via zoom at this link.
A sentencing is the final court hearing where a judge determines the official punishment for someone who has been convicted of a crime. Importantly, victims of torture at Adra during Alsheikh’s tenure as head of the prison will be able to participate directly in the sentencing through written statements, prerecorded videos, or by speaking directly at the hearing. In their statements they will be able to explain to the judge how Alsheikh’s crimes have affected them. The judge will consider these statements when deciding the appropriate sentence.
Alsheikh could receive a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison: 20 years for each count of torture and conspiracy to commit torture and 10 years in prison for each count of immigration fraud.
CJA represents nine individuals who were held or were present in Adra Prison during Alsheikh’s tenure as head of the prison.