The Department of Justice seal is seen during a news conference at the DOJ office in Washington on May 16, 2023. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
An Ontario man serving a 40-year sentence for his involvement in a thwarted terrorist plot in New York has been sentenced to an extra 50 years behind bars after stabbing two prison officers to show allegiance to ISIS.
Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, 28, was serving his original sentence at U.S. Penitentiary Allenwood in Pennsylvania for plotting mass casualty attacks in New York City on behalf of ISIS, according to an Oct. 19 press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
He was sentenced on Oct. 19 to an additional 50 years in prison following a Dec. 7, 2020, attack at the federal institution. He will serve both prison sentences consecutively, the DOJ said.
Bahnasawy was accused of fashioning a weapon from part of a steel desk in his cell and using it to attack two correctional officers.
He stabbed one officer in the head and face and a second officer in the hand when she attempted to intervene, the DOJ said. The first officer’s injuries proved so severe his eye had to be surgically removed.
Once Bahnasawy was subdued, officers discovered a handwritten message inside his sock that read: “This is a terrorist attack for the Islamic State.” A pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) was also discovered attached to the inside of a locker door in Bahnasawy’s prison cell.
Bahnasawy pleaded guilty in November 2025 to multiple counts of assault, assault with intent to commit murder, and possession of contraband inside a prison as well as providing material support to ISIS in connection with the stabbing.
“Although he was behind bars, this convicted terrorist committed a horrific attack on two corrections officers in the name of ISIS, which they fortunately survived,” FBI Counterterrorism Division assistant director Jarod Brown said in the press release. “Today’s sentencing shows that violent attacks by those who support the evil ideology of ISIS or other foreign terrorist organizations cannot be tolerated by our society.”
Bahnasawy pleaded guilty in 2016 for his involvement in planning an attack in New York to advance the cause of ISIS earlier that year, the DOJ said. His sentencing followed two years later.
He and two other men—Talha Haroon, a 19-year-old U.S. citizen living in Pakistan, and Russell Salic, a 37-year-old Philippine citizen—planned to bomb Times Square and the subway, and shoot people at concert venues. The attack was planned for the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan in 2016, “all in the name of ISIS,” the DOJ said.
An undercover FBI agent infiltrated the plot by posing as an ISIS supporter prepared to join the plot, according to the press release.
The agent contacted Bahnasawy via digital messaging platforms. During their exchange, Bahnasawy revealed his affiliation with ISIS and expressed his intention to carry out coordinated bombing and shooting attacks against civilians throughout New York City, claiming to act on behalf of the terrorist organization.
The FBI arrested Bahnasawy in May 2016 after he travelled from Canada to the New York City area in preparation for the attacks. He has been in custody since.
Haroon was arrested in Pakistan in September 2016 and Salic was taken into custody in the Philippines the following April. Both Haroon and Salic have fought extradition to the United States and remain in custody abroad.
