Federal Court Orders Syria to Pay $20 Million for Torturing American Citizen Captured in 2019

A Washington, D.C.-based law firm has achieved a significant victory by securing a judgment of over $20 million against the Syrian Arab Republic on behalf of Sam Goodwin. Goodwin, a native of St. Louis, was imprisoned in the country for 63 days while attempting to visit every nation in the world.

In response to a lawsuit filed under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s “state sponsor of terrorism” provision, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has ruled in favor of Goodwin. The judgment awards him $20,201,620 in damages, which includes approximately $10 million each in compensatory and punitive damages.

Roughly half of the total judgment amount is set to be paid through the U.S. Victims of State-Sponsored Terrorism Fund. This fund is sustained by sanctions proceeds and other penalties. Goodwin stands to receive a portion of the compensatory damages over a span of several years, depending on the fund’s financial resources at that time.

Goodwin spoke with Fox News Digital ahead of the release of his book, “Saving Sam: The True Story of an American’s Disappearance in Syria and His Family’s Extraordinary Fight to Bring Him Home.” (Courtesy of Sam Goodwin)

His release was secured by General Abbas Ibrahim, then Lebanon’s top security official, who was put in contact with the family by Joseph Abbas, the uncle of Goodwin’s sister’s friend and former college roommate.

His family worked tirelessly to bring him home, collaborating with the FBI, CIA, State Department, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, Vatican envoys, Middle East experts and others.

“This judgment is about far more than what happened to me. It’s a stand for anyone who has suffered human rights abuses around the world. I hope it gives other victims the courage to speak up and, above all, serves as a warning that such crimes will not be tolerated or forgotten,” Goodwin told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Sam Goodwin (left), Gen. Abbas Ibrahim (middle) and Joseph Abbas (right) meet in Lebanon. (Sam Goodwin)

Miller & Chevalier has secured other judgments against the Syrian Arab Republic, including one for approximately $50 million in 2023 for Kevin Dawes, another American citizen who was illegally arrested, imprisoned and tortured in Syria.

In July, it filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of Dr. Majd Kamalmaz, a psychotherapist and humanitarian who was detained at a government checkpoint in Damascus, Syria, in 2017, accusing the Syrian Arab Republic of abducting, torturing and killing him.