A Lebanese businessman with ties to the Gambia was sentenced to time served Wednesday at a U.S. court in New York. 

Bazzi, 60, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for scheming with fugitive Lebanese businessman Talal Chahine to wire more than $820,000 outside of the United States and avoid Treasury Department sanctions designed to prevent people from doing business with terrorists.

Bazzi, who had business ties in the Gambia and was the country’s consul in Lebanon, has spent two years behind bars while the criminal case unfolded and he will be deported as part of his conviction. 

He is one of several Lebanese citizens sanctioned by the US for financing the banned organisation Hezbollah. 

US prosecutors said Bazzi and Chahine secretly invested $7 million to revive La Shish in Metro Detroit after Chahine lost control of the popular restaurant chain by fleeing to Lebanon in 2005 amid criminal federal investigations and financial problems.

Bazzi faced up to 20 years in federal prison but prosecutors requested up to a 46-month sentence. His lawyer asked for Bazzi to be released, arguing he has been in custody for two years and faces a likely months-long wait to be deported.