US female fighter gets 3 years in prison for supporting Syrian terrorist
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A federal judge in the US sentenced on Tuesday a female Army veteran to three years in prison after she pleaded guilty to sending money and providing guidance to a terrorist in Syria with whom she fell in love.
US Department of Justice said, in an immediate release, Maria Bell, 55, from Sussex County and used to be a member of the US National Guard, provided the terrorist with money and military intelligence.
She was involved in the concealment of attempted provision of funds or other material support or resources to terrorist factions, including Jabhat Fath al-sham and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) in Syria.
She provided fighters with the information she had got from her experience in specialized weapons training.
In addition, Bell was sentenced to five years of supervised release, according to the release.
Bell sent about $3.150 via Western Union to her lover, who was a militant of HTS, according to a complaint in US District Court.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents arrested her at her home in November 2020 as she was obtaining travel tickets to Turkey for that same day.
The FBI agents found in her home 136 operable handguns and rifles, 15 canisters of ammo and a short-range rocket launcher.