A Canadian man serving a 40-year prison sentence for plotting terrorist attacks in New York City on behalf of ISIS has been sentenced to another 50 years in prison for stabbing 2 correctional officers at a federal prison in Pennsylvania.
Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, 28, of Ontario, was sentenced Tuesday for the Dec. 7, 2020, attack at U.S. Penitentiary Allenwood, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The new sentence will run consecutively to his existing 40-year sentence.
Bahnasawy attacked 2 correctional officers with a weapon made from part of a steel desk in his cell, prosecutors said. He stabbed one officer in the head and face before stabbing a second officer in the hand when she came to help.
The first officer later lost his right eye because of the injuries. After Bahnasawy was restrained, officers found a note in his sock that read, “This is a terrorist attack for the Islamic State.” A pledge of allegiance to ISIS was also found taped inside a locker door in his cell, according to the Justice Department.
Bahnasawy pleaded guilty in November 2025 to multiple charges, including assault, assault with intent to commit murder, possessing contraband in prison and providing material support to ISIS, which is designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.
FBI Counterterrorism Division Assistant Director Jarod Brown said the sentencing holds Bahnasawy accountable for carrying out an ISIS-motivated attack inside prison.
Bahnasawy was already serving a 40-year sentence for plotting a mass-casualty terrorist attack in New York City in 2016. Prosecutors said he worked with Talha Haroon and Russell Salic to plan bombings and shootings in crowded areas of the city during Ramadan on behalf of ISIS.
An undercover FBI agent infiltrated the plot by posing as an ISIS supporter willing to participate in the planned attacks. Bahnasawy was arrested in May 2016 after traveling from Canada to the New York City area in preparation for the plot. He has remained in custody since his arrest.
The FBI’s Philadelphia Field Office investigated the prison assault. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the Justice Department’s National Security Division handled the case.