A Florida jury found four South Florida-based men guilty of conspiring to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. The members of the CTU Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy and Counter Terrorist Unit Security companies were found guilty of providing material support and violating the U.S. Neutrality Act.
A Florida jury on Friday convicted four men of conspiracy in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, whose death led to extraordinary turmoil in the Caribbean nation.
South Florida served as a central location for planning and financing the plot to oust Moïse and replace him with someone of the conspirators’ choosing, U.S. prosecutors alleged. Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and James Solages were found guilty of conspiring to kill or kidnap Haiti’s elected leader and providing material support for the plot. They were also convicted of violating the U.S. Neutrality Act and could face possible life sentences.
Moïse was killed on July 7, 2021, when about two dozen foreign mercenaries, mostly from Colombia, attacked his home near Port-au-Prince. Moïse’s wife, Martine, was wounded during the attack and flown to the U.S. for treatment. The trial began nearly two months ago in Miami. In Haiti, meanwhile, gang leaders have grown increasingly violent and empowered.
Ortiz and Intriago were principals of Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy and Counter Terrorist Unit Security, collectively known as CTU, and Veintemilla was a principal of Worldwide Capital Lending Group. Both companies were based in South Florida. Christian Sanon is a dual Haitian-American citizen whom investigators say was initially favored by the conspirators to replace Moïse. Solages was a CTU representative in Haiti who coordinated with Sanon and others, officials said.
Sanon will face trial at a later date. Defense attorneys argued at trial that the investigation into the assassination was a mess and that the four were manipulated into taking blame for an internal coup. They said the men believed they had a legitimate warrant signed by a Haitian judge and that they were liberating Haiti from Moïse, who had overstayed his term as president. At least five others have pleaded guilty in the conspiracy and are serving life sentences.
Separately, 20 people, including 17 Colombian soldiers, face charges in Haiti. Gang violence, death threats and a crumbling judicial system have stalled an ongoing investigation. Fischer writes for the Associated Press.
Conspiracy Assassination Miami South Florida Haitian President Mercenaries U.S. Neutrality Act Counter Terrorist Unit Christian Sanon James Solages Jovenel Moïse Assassination Haiti Gang Leaders Violence Empowerment
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Four people convicted of conspiracy in US trial tied to 2021 assassination of Haiti's presidentA Florida jury has convicted four men of conspiracy in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
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