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Four defendants have been found guilty in the United States for roles in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse nearly five years ago.
A federal jury in Miami on Friday convicted Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, James Solages, and Walter Veintemilla of conspiracy to provide material support resulting in death.
According to court records and evidence, the quartet colluded to overthrow Moïse and install a successor so that they could obtain lucrative government contracts in Haiti.
They recruited allies in the U.S., 22 former Colombian Army soldiers and Haitian gang heads. Eight of the co-conspirators pleaded guilty for their roles, and six of them testified at trial.
From late May to early June 2021, Ortiz, Intriago, Solages, and Veintemilla discussed a plan to kidnap Moïse at his sister’s house, drug him, and force him to resign.
But that scheme failed, causing the defendants to switch to another tactic of kidnapping the late leader when he returned from an international trip on June 19, 2021.
They eventually decided to order Colombian hirelings to attack Moïse’s home and eliminate him. The co-conspirators in Haiti obtained black-market weapons and ammunition for the mercenaries.
Solages, the mercenaries, and Haitian allies struck on July 7, 2021, fatally shooting President Moïse in his bedroom in the Pelerin 5 area near Port-au-Prince, and wounding the First Lady, Martine Moïse.
Prosecutors said after learning of the assassination, Veintemilla, who played a key role in financing the operation, called a co-conspirator and proclaimed: “The rat (President Moïse) is in the box.”
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg stated that using American soil as a base for a violent machination overseas constitutes “a grave violation of our laws and our sovereignty.”
U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida, Jason Quiñones, said the plot destabilized a nation and ended with a sitting president’s murder. “The jury has spoken, and the rule of law has answered,” he added.
All four defendants face maximum penalties of life in prison. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra for the Southern District of Florida is expected to determine their years behind bars.
Four men convicted in US over Haiti President Moise’s killing
