Toledoan gets 6 years in federal prison

Man attempted to send money to Lebanese terrorist group

5/21/2012

A Toledo man who attempted to send money to a terrorist organization in Lebanon was sentenced to more than six years in prison in U.S. District Court this morning.

Federal Judge James Carr ordered Hor Akl, 39, to 75 months in prison, meeting federal prosecutors and Akl’s defense attorneys in the middle of their suggested sentencings.

A plea agreement allowed the judge to order a sentence between 70 and 87 months.

Akl and family members who accompanied him to court, sitting behind the defendant, declined to comment after the sentencing. Akl was ordered to self-report to the Bureau of Prisons on July 10.

Akl’s wife, Amera Akl, 39, was, in June, sentenced to 40 months in a federal prison.

Federal prosecutors said the couple attempted to ship an initial installment of $200,000 by concealing it in an SUV that they planned to ship to Lebanon. The couple planned to send up to $1 million a year to Hezbollah.