The mother of former University of Iowa student and alleged attempted murderer Ali Younes filed an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court appeal Friday after receiving a five-year prision sentence on Thursday for helping Ali flee the U.S. in May.
Lima Younes, 45, had previously been found guilty by a Johnson County jury in early August for the charge of aiding and abetting his escape from custody.
At the Thursday sentencing, Johnson County Judge Jason Burns said while he sympathized with Lima Younes as a fellow parent, incarceration was ultimately the correct decision.
“Your actions have had a tremendous impact on this community and on this very institution. In the interest of deterring future effects, I feel that incarceration is appropriate,” Burns said in court.
Lima Younes had been charged with aiding and abetting after helping her son Ali Younes escape the country in May. Ali Younes was under house arrest after being charged with attempted murder for strangling a woman outside the Art Building West.
In May, Ali Younes cut his ankle monitor and was driven to O’Hare International Airport by Lima Younes and her husband Alfred Younes to fly to Jordan.
Ali Younes’ U.S. passport had been confiscated after making bail but he was still in possession of his Jordanian passport. The country of Jordan doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the U.S., meaning Ali Younes is still on the run.
A few days later, Alfred Younes and Lima Younes were both arrested after also attempting to flee the country, and both were charged with aiding and abetting escape from custody.