The conspiracy to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, whose assassination in 2021 sparked unparalleled unrest in the Caribbean country, was admitted by a former confidential informant for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Tuesday, December 5.
Joseph Vincent is one of 11 Miami defendants to enter a guilty plea. He is a Haitian-American citizen who resided in the US and who had attended meetings in both Haiti and South Florida before the killing.
According to The Associated Press, among the counts against Vincent are conspiracies to provide material support and resources and to kill and kidnap a person outside the US. If found guilty, he may face a life term in jail.
About 20 Colombians and a handful of others who are dual Haitian-American citizens were involved in the crime, according to the police. The individuals' original intention was to abduct the Haitian president, but they ultimately decided to have him assassinated. Authorities are claiming that the plotters intended to get contracts with Moïse's successor.
Officials attend a ceremony in honor of late Haitian President Jovenel Moise at the National Pantheon Museum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on July 20, 2021.
Plea Deal With Prosecutors
A 20-minute hearing was held before federal Judge José E. Martínez, during which Vincent entered a guilty plea. He sat handcuffed and shackled next to his lawyer, Kenneth Swartz.
"Guilty, your honor," Vincent said in response to the judge's question about his intention to plead.
The prosecution and Vincent reportedly came to a plea deal, which is a common tactic for defendants seeking a reduced sentence. After agreeing to cooperate with the investigation, the government withdrew two charges of conspiring to conduct crimes against the US.
The court scheduled the sentencing hearing on February 9, 2024.
Retired Colombian army officer Germán Alejandro Rivera Garcia, Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar, and former Haitian senator John Joël Joseph are among the defendants who have pleaded guilty.
Rivera Garcia was sentenced to life in prison in October, and Jaar received a life sentence in June. Joseph was detained in Jamaica before being extradited to Miami last year, and his sentencing is scheduled for December 19.
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The 2021 Assasination Plot
All of the mentioned names are involved in a plot that US prosecutors claim originated in Haiti and Florida, culminating in the assassination of Moïse by mercenaries at his residence near Port-Au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, on July 7, 2021. The president was 53 years old at the time.
Prosecutors claim that the killing was motivated by Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a priest and citizen of South Florida, who was linked to Haitian-American suspect James Solages and whose ambitions included running against Moïse for president. They were both apprehended shortly after Moïse was shot 12 times at his residence.
Solages and Vincent were both taken into custody in the days after the incident. At first, the two men said the conspirators had employed them as translators, Reuters reported.
The assailants were allegedly posing as DEA agents throughout the incident; however, the DEA subsequently clarified that neither Vincent nor Solages were representing the agency.
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