Four South Florida men were convicted on Friday for conspiring to kill Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021 by hiring mercenaries to assassinate him at his private home in Port-au-Prince, according to court records.
Prosecutors argued during the nine-week trial in Miami federal court that the men assembled two dozen former Colombian soldiers and provided money, guns, ammunition and bulletproof vests in the plot to kill Moise. The 53-year-old president was shot dead in July 2021 at his hillside residence above Port-au-Prince, a killing that left a major political vacuum in the Caribbean nation and emboldened powerful gangs.
Those on trial were Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, 53, a former FBI informant, Colombian citizen and U.S. permanent resident; Antonio Intriago, 62, a Venezuelan-American and owner of a security company; James Solages, 40, a Haitian-American mechanic; and Walter Veintemilla, 57, an Ecuadorian-American.
They were convicted on multiple charges related to conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping outside U.S. territory resulting in death, as well as providing material support or resources to commit a violation resulting in death. All four face life in prison.
A fifth defendant, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-born doctor who according to court records wanted to become president after Moise was killed, will be tried later due to health issues.
The killing prompted multiple investigations and indictments in Haiti and the U.S. and has spawned various theories about who ordered the assassination and why.
Defense lawyers for the Florida men said the government used unreliable evidence from Haiti, according to the Miami Herald. They argued their clients intended only to serve an arrest warrant on the president for staying beyond his term.
The defendants also claimed that by the time the Colombians arrived to arrest Moise, he had already been killed by his own security forces and government officials. “This is a Haitian conspiracy and it’s a Haitian conspiracy,” defense attorney Emmanuel Perez said, arguing the men were being used as scapegoats in a flawed FBI investigation, according to the Miami Herald.
A divisive figure in Haiti who refused to leave office after his term ended in February 2021, Moise’s death has intensified political instability in the Caribbean nation and triggered widespread gang violence. Jake Johnston of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington said it would be a “misconception” to think this case resolves all questions surrounding the killing. “The Miami group is just a small piece,” the center’s associate researcher said. “There are all these people who are charged in Haiti. The big picture is that we’re not going to get the full story here.”
