Current:Home > reviewsFormer Haitian senator sentenced to life in prison in 2021 assassination of Haiti’s president-DB Wealth Institute B2 Reviews & Ratings
Former Haitian senator sentenced to life in prison in 2021 assassination of Haiti’s president
lotradecoin permissions View Date:2024-12-26 02:53:58
MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Miami on Tuesday sentenced a former Haitian senator to life in prison for conspiring to kill Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, which caused unprecedented turmoil in the Caribbean nation.
John Joel Joseph is the third of 11 suspects detained and charged in Miami to be sentenced in what U.S. prosecutors have described as a plot hatched in both Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moïse, who was 53 when he was slain at his private home near the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince on July 7, 2021.
Joseph, a well-known politician and opponent of the slain president’s Tet Kale party, was extradited from Jamaica in June to face charges of conspiring to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare for or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap.
The sentencing came two months after Joseph signed a plea agreement with the government hoping to get a reduction in his sentence. In exchange, he promised he would cooperate with the investigation.
Sometimes U.S. attorneys recommend judges reduce a sentence if they determine that the convicted person collaborates with their investigation. The reduction could come months or years after the sentencing.
Federal Judge José E. Martínez handed down the maximum sentence at a hearing in Miami that lasted about 30 minutes.
At the hearing, Joseph asked for mercy and said that he never planned to kill the Haitian president. Wearing a prisoner’s beige shirt and pants, he was handcuffed and had shackles on his ankles as he listened to the judge’s ruling seated next to his attorney.
“It turned out that the plan got overwhelmed, out of hand,” Joseph said in creole. The plan changed to kill the president “but it was never my intention,” he added.
The judge said that he would consider a reduction of the sentencing if the government asked for it, but after listing to the former Haitian senator, Martínez ordered him to life imprisonment.
“Whether you attempted or not the assassination, you enter into dangerous territory,” Martínez said.
The other two people who have been sentenced in the case are Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar and retired Colombian army officer Germán Alejandro Rivera García. Both were sentenced to life in prison. Joseph Vincent, a dual Haitian-American citizen and former confidential informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, pleaded guilty this month and is awaiting his sentencing in February 2024.
Seven more defendants are awaiting trial next year in South Florida.
According to the charges, Joseph, Jaar, Rivera, Vincent and others, including several dual Haitian-American citizens, participated in a plot to kidnap or kill Haiti’s president. Among the participants were about 20 former Colombian soldiers.
Joseph was arrested in Jamaica in January, and in March he agreed to be extradited to the U.S.
The Haitian government also arrested more than 40 people for their alleged roles in the murder.
Since Moïse’s assassination, Haiti has seen a surge of gang violence that led the prime minister to request the deployment of an armed force. The U.N. Security Council voted in early October to send a multinational force led by Kenya to help fight the gangs.
Kenyan officials told the AP that the first group of about 300 officers is expected to be deployed by February, with authorities still awaiting the verdict in a case that seeks to block the deployment. A decision is expected in January.
veryGood! (4127)
Related
- Video shows 2 toddlers in diapers, distraught in the middle of Texas highway after crash
- Far from landfall, Florida's inland counties and east coast still battered by Milton
- Officials work to rescue visitors trapped in a former Colorado gold mine
- An Update From Stanley Tucci on the Devil Wears Prada Sequel? Groundbreaking
- 'Alien: Romulus' movie review: Familiar sci-fi squirms get a sheen of freshness
- Priscilla Presley’s Ex-Boyfriend Michael Edwards Denies Molesting Lisa Marie Presley When She Was 10
- 12 rescued from former Colorado gold mine after fatality during tour
- Travis Kelce's Ex Kayla Nicole Reacts to Hate She’s Received Amid His Romance With Taylor Swift
- 'Business done right': Why the WWE-TNA partnership has been a success
- 49ers run over Seahawks on 'Thursday Night Football': Highlights
Ranking
- Rob Schneider Responds to Daughter Elle King Calling Out His Parenting
- Fisher-Price recalls 2 million baby swings for suffocation risk after 5 deaths
- Hurricane Leslie tracker: Storm downgraded from Category 2 to Category 1
- Watch miracle rescue of pup wedged in car bumper that hit him
- Don't be fooled by the name and packaging: Fruit snacks are rarely good for you. Here's why.
- WNBA Finals Game 1: Lynx pull off 18-point comeback, down Liberty in OT
- 50 pounds of 'improvised' explosives found at 'bomb-making laboratory' inside Philadelphia home, DA says
- Hurricane Leslie tracker: Storm downgraded from Category 2 to Category 1
Recommendation
-
Don't be fooled by the name and packaging: Fruit snacks are rarely good for you. Here's why.
-
What to know about this year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment
-
NHL tracker: Hurricanes-Lightning game in Tampa postponed due to Hurricane Milton
-
Venezuela vs. Argentina live updates: Watch Messi play World Cup qualifying match tonight
-
Oklahoma city approves $7M settlement for man wrongfully imprisoned for decades
-
Yes, French President Emmanuel Macron and the Mayor of Rome Are Fighting Over Emily in Paris
-
Deion Sanders rips late start time for game vs. Kansas State: 'How stupid is that?'
-
Martha Stewart Reveals She Cheated on Ex-Husband Andy Stewart in the Most Jaw-Dropping Way