Parents who helped son flee to Jordan to avoid prosecution paroled early

IOWA CITY — A couple from Northwest Iowa who helped their son flee to Jordan to avoid prosecution on accusations he robbed and attempted to kill a woman on the University of Iowa campus in 2022 have been paroled early — serving less than a year of their five-year sentences.

Alfred Ali Mohammad Younes, 49, of Sutherland, pleaded guilty last September to escape from custody, admitting he aided his son, Ali Younes, 20 at the time, in escaping house arrest pending trial. His wife and Ali’s mother, Lima Khairi Mohammad Younes, 45, was found guilty last August by a Johnson County jury of the same charge.

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Both were sentenced to five years in prison.

But the Iowa Board of Parole released Lima Younes on May 9 after she served over seven months. Alfred Younes was paroled May 28 after serving over five months.

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Their son, Ali Younes, is accused of choking a woman on the UI Iowa campus until she lost consciousness and then stealing her earrings, valued at $20,000, in April 2022. He faced up to 60 years in prison.

But before trial, he cut off his ankle monitor while on house arrest at the couple’s home and fled to Jordan on May 6, 2023, according to court documents.

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According to trial testimony, the couple misled police about the whereabouts of their son and sold their vehicle in another state and rented a van to conceal their travel to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago so their son could get on a flight to Jordan.

The Iowa City woman who Ali Younes is accused of attacking attended the May 28 parole hearing for Alfred Younes and read a statement, asking the board to make the father serve his full sentence. She didn’t receive a notice about the earlier parole hearing for Lima Younes. The woman has not been identified in court documents.

There is no extradition treaty between the United States and Jordan. The only way Ali Younes would be prosecuted if he voluntarily returns, investigators said previously.

Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith said she was disappointed in the parole board’s decision and “concerned about the message it sends to Ali Younes’ alleged victim, and to the community.’’

“It is especially troubling given the fact that Ali Younes still is at large as a result of the defendants’ criminal acts,” she said.

Renee Schulte, chair of the Iowa Board of Parole, said that Alfred and Lima Younes will remain supervised while on parole. Both had to surrender their passports.

Their sentences were set to discharge next year, Schulte said, before they were paroled.

“While the Youneses were charged with aiding their son in fleeing prosecution for crimes he was charged with, the parents themselves have no criminal history and are considered low risk to reoffend,” Schulte said.

“This decision was made after careful consideration of multiple factors, including sentence length, rehabilitation opportunities, public safety, lack of criminal history, and low risk assessment scores. The board’s early release decision does not condone the Youneses’ part in assisting their son fleeing the country.”

The five-member parole board is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Iowa Senate. The board’s deliberations in fiscal 2023 resulted in 2,658 paroles, according to its most recent annual report.

During the parole hearing for Alfred Younes, the woman, in her statement, told the board the father “knowingly and with great thought attempted to obstruct justice.” He was a “support network” for his son and probably would continue to help his son now that’s he’s out of prison.

She also pointed out in her statement that Alfred Younes had shown a willingness to flee. He had refused extradition from Nebraska, where authorities found him after his son escaped.

According to court documents, Alfred Younes was arrested May 9, 2022, on a warrant by Omaha Police Department’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit and the Omaha Airport Authority. He was attempting to board a flight in Omaha and was headed to Amman, Jordan, investigators said.

“He operated by his own rules and he is willing to suffer the consequences and should continue to do so in prison,” she said in her statement. “Operating by his own rules has harmed other people, myself, my family and friends, the university and Iowa City communities and his family.”

Parents’ scheme

UI police officers and others testified during Lima Younes’ trial that she and her husband 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.

UI police Detective Ian Mallory testified about tracking a GMC Acadia that was missing from their home after the ankle monitor for their son was cut. The detective used the vehicle’s OnStar service to find it at an Omaha dealership. The dealer told Mallory that Lima and Alfred Younes had sold him the Acadia for $42,000.

The couple didn’t buy another vehicle there and had arrived at the dealership in a white Chrysler Pacifica minivan, the dealer said. Police later found the couple had rented the minivan on May 4, 2022.

Investigators also were able to track Alfred Younes’ cellphone later, 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 falsely saying her son was at home in Sutherland and that she and her husband were returning home from Davenport.

Investigators testified they obtained surveillance videos of Ali Younes and his grandmother in an O’Hare parking lot for international travelers, and also obtained records of them buying tickets for the flight to Jordan.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com