An Iowa City man, who helped his son flee to Jordan to avoid prosecution for robbing and attempting to kill a woman on the University of Iowa campus in 2022, pleaded guilty this week in Johnson County District Court.
Alfred Ali Mohammad Younes, 49, entered a written plea of guilty to escape from custody, admitting Monday to aiding and abetting his son, Ali Younes, 20, in escaping the GPS-monitored house arrest he was under as he awaited trial.
A Johnson County jury in August found Lima Khairi Mohammad Younes, 45, Alfred’s wife and Ali’s mother, guilty of escape from custody for aiding and abetting her son in his escape to Jordan.
Ali Younes cut off his ankle monitor and fled to Jordan on May 6, according to court documents. Ali Younes was charged last year with attempted murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree theft.
Ali Younes is accused of strangling a woman on the University of Iowa campus until she lost consciousness and then stealing her earrings, valued at $20,000, in April 2022. The charge carries a sentence of up to 60 years in prison.
According to trial testimony, Lima Younes, along with her husband, helped mislead police about the whereabouts of their son.
UI police officers and others testified during the trial that Lima and Alfred Younes sold their vehicle and rented a van to take their son to Chicago, so he could take an international flight to Jordan with his grandmother.
Police said they couldn’t track Ali and Alfred Younes’ phones because they were turned off and Lima Younes left her phone at their home in Sutherland in northwest Iowa.
UI Police Detective Ian Mallory testified about tracking a GMC Arcadia that was missing from the Younes’ home after the ankle monitor was cut. He used the vehicle’s OnStar device to find it at a dealership in Omaha, Neb.
The dealer told Mallory that Lima and Alfred Younes had sold him the Arcadia for $42,000. They received a check for about $21,000 because they still owed half the loan from buying the vehicle in 2022.
The couple didn’t buy another vehicle and had arrived at the dealership in a white Chrysler Pacifica minivan, the dealer said. Police later found the couple had rented the minivan May 4.
Investigators also were able to track Alfred Younes’ cellphone after it was turned back on, and it showed the phone was traveling back to Iowa from Chicago, according to testimony.
Lima Younes also misled investigators and Ali’s probation officer by saying her son was at home in Sutherland and that she and her husband were returning from Davenport.
Investigators testified they obtained surveillance videos of Ali Younes and his grandmother in an O’Hare airport parking lot for international travelers and also had records of them buying tickets for the flight to Jordan.
Lima Younes was arrested May 9 by UI police on a warrant with assistance from the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office and charged.
Alfred Younes also was arrested May 9 on a warrant by Omaha Police Department’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit and the Omaha Airport Authority while he was attempting to board a flight in Omaha, according to court documents. He was headed to Amman, Jordan. He was extradited to Johnson County in July and charged.
Both Lima and Alfred Younes face up to five years in prison.
Lima Younes is scheduled to be sentenced next Thursday in Johnson County District Court.
Sentencing has not yet been set for her husband, who plans to ask a judge for a deferred judgment, giving him probation and the chance to have his record expunged if he has no violations while on probation.
Ali Younes hasn’t been extradited from Jordan because the United States doesn’t have an extradition treaty with that country, according to police. His case remains pending.
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Alfred Ali Mohammad Younes, 49, entered a written plea of guilty to escape from custody, admitting Monday to aiding and abetting his son, Ali Younes, 20, in escaping the GPS-monitored house arrest he was under as he awaited trial.
A Johnson County jury in August found Lima Khairi Mohammad Younes, 45, Alfred’s wife and Ali’s mother, guilty of escape from custody for aiding and abetting her son in his escape to Jordan.
Ali Younes cut off his ankle monitor and fled to Jordan on May 6, according to court documents. Ali Younes was charged last year with attempted murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree theft.
Ali Younes is accused of strangling a woman on the University of Iowa campus until she lost consciousness and then stealing her earrings, valued at $20,000, in April 2022. The charge carries a sentence of up to 60 years in prison.
According to trial testimony, Lima Younes, along with her husband, helped mislead police about the whereabouts of their son.
UI police officers and others testified during the trial that Lima and Alfred Younes sold their vehicle and rented a van to take their son to Chicago, so he could take an international flight to Jordan with his grandmother.
Police said they couldn’t track Ali and Alfred Younes’ phones because they were turned off and Lima Younes left her phone at their home in Sutherland in northwest Iowa.
UI Police Detective Ian Mallory testified about tracking a GMC Arcadia that was missing from the Younes’ home after the ankle monitor was cut. He used the vehicle’s OnStar device to find it at a dealership in Omaha, Neb.
The dealer told Mallory that Lima and Alfred Younes had sold him the Arcadia for $42,000. They received a check for about $21,000 because they still owed half the loan from buying the vehicle in 2022.
The couple didn’t buy another vehicle and had arrived at the dealership in a white Chrysler Pacifica minivan, the dealer said. Police later found the couple had rented the minivan May 4.
Investigators also were able to track Alfred Younes’ cellphone after it was turned back on, and it showed the phone was traveling back to Iowa from Chicago, according to testimony.
Lima Younes also misled investigators and Ali’s probation officer by saying her son was at home in Sutherland and that she and her husband were returning from Davenport.
Investigators testified they obtained surveillance videos of Ali Younes and his grandmother in an O’Hare airport parking lot for international travelers and also had records of them buying tickets for the flight to Jordan.
Lima Younes was arrested May 9 by UI police on a warrant with assistance from the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office and charged.
Alfred Younes also was arrested May 9 on a warrant by Omaha Police Department’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit and the Omaha Airport Authority while he was attempting to board a flight in Omaha, according to court documents. He was headed to Amman, Jordan. He was extradited to Johnson County in July and charged.
Both Lima and Alfred Younes face up to five years in prison.
Lima Younes is scheduled to be sentenced next Thursday in Johnson County District Court.
Sentencing has not yet been set for her husband, who plans to ask a judge for a deferred judgment, giving him probation and the chance to have his record expunged if he has no violations while on probation.
Ali Younes hasn’t been extradited from Jordan because the United States doesn’t have an extradition treaty with that country, according to police. His case remains pending.
Iowa City father pleads to helping son flee to Jordan
He and his wife face up to 5 years in prison.
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