Badawi was sentenced to death by a Yemeni court in 2004, but his sentence was later reduced to 15 years in prison. He made two successful jailbreaks in 2003 and 2006; after he surrendered in 2007, authorities in Yemen secretly made a deal to allow him to remain free in exchange for aiding in the search and capture of other Al Qaeda operatives.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 07, 2019 03:11 UTC