On February 5, 2012, Egyptian authorities charged LaHood's son and 42 other individuals with "spending money from organizations that were operating in Egypt without a license." Nineteen Americans were part of the 42 charged. The U.S. government said that $1.5 billion in U.S. aid to Egypt could be withheld if the investigation was not finished quickly. Faiza Abu Naga, Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation, was seen as the person pushing the investigation forward. Sam LaHood left Egypt along with several foreign NGO workers on March 1, 2012. Sam LaHood was tried "in absentia" by an Egyptian criminal court, and convicted of operating without a license and receiving foreign funding. LaHood was given a five-year jail term and fined 1,000 Egyptian pounds ($143).