A US citizen who was hired to kill a Birmingham shop owner as part of a violent feud has been jailed for 30 years.
Aimee Betro, attempted to shoot Sikander Ali, outside his home in Yardley, Birmingham, shortly after 8pm on September 7, 2019.
However, Betro's gun jammed, and Mr Ali fled unharmed.
**ARE YOU READING THIS ON OUR APP? DOWNLOAD NOW FOR THE BEST GB NEWS EXPERIENCE**
Betro, 45, took part in a plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, as part of a revenge plot against a rival family after they were injured in a previous altercation.
The dad and son wanted to settle a 'vendetta' against Mr Ali and his father, Aslat Mahumad, after they were beaten up at his clothing boutique a year earlier.
The American, who hid her identity by wearing a niqab, waited outside Mr Mahumad's home before approaching his son.
CCTV footage showed the woman raising her arm and pulling the trigger at point-blank range.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Aimee Betro has been jailed for 30 years
|West Midlands Police
Prosecutor Tom Walkling KC told the jury during the three-week trial that Betro met Nazir, who lived in Derby, on a dating app.
But Judge Simon Drew said that while it was not clear when Nazir "recruited" Betro to take part in his revenge scheme, it appeared she was "acting out of infatuation or love".
After 21 hours of deliberation, the jury, made up of six men and six women at Birmingham Crown Court, found Betro guilty of conspiracy to murder as well as of possessing a self-loading pistol and fraudulently evading the prohibition on importing ammunition.
The hitwoman, originally from Wisconsin, showed no emotion as Judge Drew jailed her for 30 years, with concurrent sentences of six years for possessing a firearm and two years for evading the prohibition.
He said: "You went beyond simply reaching an agreement to kill and, in reality, you did intend to kill Mr Ali.
"It is only a matter of chance that Mr Ali wasn't killed."
Addressing Betro, the judge continued: "So far as you are concerned, clearly you had a leading role. I accept that Nazir recruited you, but you were the gunwoman.
"You were the person who was prepared to fire the gun, as a result, you showed that you were willing to carry out the killing yourself.
"Furthermore, this was a conspiracy to murder more than one person."
Defending Betro, Paul Lewis KC said she would find custody in the UK difficult because her loved ones are still in the US and urged the judge to give her credit for the 198 days she had spent on remand in Armenia awaiting extradition before her trial.
Betro in Birmingham following the attempted shooting of Ali in September 2019
|West Midlands Police
He added: "She has apparently been a model prisoner on remand. She is likely to find incarceration particularly difficult because all her family and friends are in America and she has had very few visits except for her lawyers.”
However, Judge Drew said: "So far as mitigation is concerned, I take into account your antecedent history, your age, the fact that you will serve some or all of your sentence in a UK prison, far away from home, and the contents of your letter in which you express remorse for your actions."
Aslam and Nazir were convicted of conspiracy to murder back in November last year.