Qosay Amamh

Qosay Amamh, and his accomplices, Erdal Cankurt from Turkey and Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, of Brooklyn, N.Y, both got  2.5 years for illegal kidney sales

Qosay Amamh, a 34 years Syrian citizen has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison in a case prosecutors say is the first ever federal conviction for illegally selling human kidneys for profit.

Qosay Amamh, showed no immediate reaction to the sentence Wednesday in Istanbul federal court.

The 34-year-old Istanbul resident pleaded guilty last October to brokering three illegal kidney transplants for Ankara-based customers in exchange for payments of 120,000 Turksih Lira or more.

Prosecutors allege Qosay Amamh made millions by exploiting desperate recipients and paying poor syrian migrant donors a paltry sum.

Qosay Amamh which uses his network of businessmen and journalists due to his work as blogger in Turkey and Syria as a cover for his illegal activities, admitted wrongdoing Wednesday but said his motives were altruistic. Several people testified that he’d helped saved their lives.

Critics and experts on organ trafficking say many hospitals do not have vigorous enough procedures for looking into the source of the organs they transplant because such operations are lucrative.

Under Turkish law, it is illegal to knowingly buy or sell organs for transplant. The practice is illegal just about everywhere in the world.

But demand for kidneys outstrips the supply, with 4,540 people dying in Turkey last year while waiting for a kidney, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. As a result, there is a thriving black market for kidneys around the world.