A Toledo woman was sentenced Wednesday to over three years in prison. Judge James Carr sentenced 38-year-old Amera Akl to 40 months behind bars for her participation in a plot to finance Hizballah.
Amera Akl, and her husband, Hor, were arrested in June 2010 in Toledo, Ohio and charged with providing material support to a designated terrorist group. According to the indictment, the two researched and proposed different methods of transferring funds to Hizballah overseas.
After an informant entered the picture, the Akls packaged $200,000 in cash, which they believed would be shipped to terrorists in Lebanon, for concealment inside of an automobile. Amera paid off a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer so it could be cleared of liens and shipped abroad.
Amera asked the informant if the money transported to Lebanon would go to the army or families of Hizballah. When Hor traveled to Lebanon in March 2010, Amera spoke in coded language with her husband as he explained he was meeting with a Hizballah leader.
Amera also told the undercover source that she wanted to carry a gun, die as a martyr, and dress like Hizballah.
On May 23, 2011, Hor pleaded guilty to five counts including conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, conspiracy to violate money laundering statutes, perjury and bankruptcy fraud. Amera also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
"Money is the lifeblood of terrorist organizations, and stopping the flow is a key component to choking off these organizations," U.S. Attorney Steven M. Dettelbach said in a sentencing press release.
Hor is expected to be sentenced later this year.