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Judge will decide verdict for Iowa City man who fled the country to avoid prosecution
Ali Younes waived his right to a jury trial
Jun. 27, 2025 4:49 pm, Updated: Jun. 30, 2025 8:36 am
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IOWA CITY — An Iowa City man, who fled to Jordan to avoid prosecution for attempted murder and other charges in May 2023, waived his right to a jury trial Friday and will have a bench — non-jury — trial on July 8 in Johnson County District Court.
A judge will decide the verdict for Ali Younes, 22, who is charged with attempted murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree theft. Younes appeared in court Friday and formally waived his right to a jury.
Sixth Judicial District Judge Andrew Chappell also briefly discussed a few matters with the prosecution and defense regarding the trial, which is expected to last three days. A judge will decide the written verdict, which could take a few months to complete.
The process to get to trial has been an unusual one because on May 6, 2023, while Younes was on pretrial release and living with his parents in Sutherland in northwest Iowa, he cut off his GPS ankle monitor and fled to Jordan with the help of his parents.
Younes was living with his parents, Alfred Ali Mohammad Younes, 49, and Lima Khairi Mohammad Younes, 45, at the time. They helped him escape and were convicted of aiding and abetting him.
There is no extradition agreement between Jordan and the United States, but Younes made the decision to self-surrender in Chicago in August 2024, with the help of the University of Iowa Police Department and the U.S. Embassy in Jordan, police previously said.
He also is charged with escape from custody by a felon, a Class D felony, in a separate case.
Younes, in the attempted murder case, is accused of robbing and choking a woman on the University of Iowa campus in April 2022. He choked the woman until she lost consciousness and then stole her earrings, valued at $20,000, according to court documents.
He has remained in jail under a $500,000 bail pending trial after he was brought back to Iowa.
If convicted, he faces up to 60 years in prison.
Younes cut off ankle monitor before fleeing
Younes appeared for a pretrial hearing May 5, 2023, but then he cut off his court-ordered GPS monitor the next day, according to investigators.
On May 6, 2023, the Iowa State Patrol’s tactical team obtained a search warrant for the family’s home in Sutherland, where UI police found Younes’ ankle monitor left in the kitchen and SIM cards missing from his phones, court documents show.
Alfred Younes was arrested May 9, 2023, by the Omaha Police Department’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit and the Omaha Airport Authority while he was attempting to board a flight there, according to court documents. He was headed to Amman, Jordan.
Lima Younes also was arrested May 9, 2023, by UI police on a warrant with the assistance of the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office.
According to evidence at Lima Younes’ trial, 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 so their son could get on a flight to Jordan.
Lima Younes was convicted by a jury and Alfred Younes pleaded guilty to the escape from custody and were each sentenced to up to five years in prison.
The Iowa Board of parole earlier this year gave each of them early parole — Alfred after serving more than five months and Lima after serving over seven months.
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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