18 suspects in killing of Haiti president transferred to Florida
Fox News correspondent Danamarie McNicholl reports that 18 suspects connected to the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse were transported to Miami. Federal prosecutors allege that Florida business owners misused COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program funds to buy weapons and tactical equipment and recruit Colombian mercenaries for the operation. The defendants face charges including conspiracy to kill or kidnap a person abroad and wire fraud.
Eighteen people accused of playing a role in the brazen 2021 killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse arrived in the United States Sunday to face federal prosecution. Fox News cameras captured their landing in Miami.
Exclusive video showed the defendants leaving a U.S. military aircraft in shackles as FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents escorted them across the tarmac. Their transfer represents a significant development in the international investigation into the plot that ended with Moïse being shot inside his private residence.
“Today, the FBI and our interagency partners executed the largest foreign transfer of custody in FBI history,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement to News Media. He described the operation as the latest step in an 18-month effort to locate high-value suspects around the world and bring them to the United States to face justice.
FBI and Department of Homeland Security agents escort 18 suspects accused in the assassination plot on the Miami tarmac Sunday. (Fox News Channel)
Moïse, who was 53, was fatally shot in July 2021 at his home in the hills overlooking Port-au-Prince. His death created a deep political vacuum in Haiti and further strengthened the position of powerful armed groups operating across the country.
FBI Miami said the defendants, who include Haitian and Colombian nationals, were transferred from Haitian custody to face charges in the U.S. Prosecutors claim American jurisdiction because much of the alleged conspiracy was planned and funded in South Florida.
According to federal prosecutors, fraudulent COVID-19 PPP loans helped finance the deadly scheme. A five-year investigation involving 30 people charged with related offenses found that businesses in Florida allegedly obtained taxpayer-backed funds and used them to acquire firearms, tactical gear and Colombian fighters involved in the attack on Moïse.
The federal case includes allegations of conspiracy to kill or kidnap someone abroad and wire fraud. Prosecutors also say some members of the operation impersonated U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents to gain entry to the Haitian president’s residence.
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Fox News cameras recorded the arrival in Miami of 18 suspects accused in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. (Fox News Channel)
As the suspects reached Miami, Department of Justice prosecutors unsealed an indictment describing an extensive conspiracy. The court filing says the operation was initially intended to overthrow Moïse by force but eventually turned into a plan to assassinate him.
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“This was really about greed,” Brett Skiles, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Miami, told Fox News. He said the suspects had business interests in the United States and believed regime change in Haiti would help them secure profitable government contracts.
The defendants were scheduled to appear for the first time in federal court in Miami on Monday morning. Since cameras are not allowed inside federal courtrooms, the footage from the airport provides the only public images of the suspects entering U.S. custody.
“This assassination plot was planned, financed, conspired, here in Miami,” Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, told Fox News. He said the prosecution seeks accountability not only for the alleged murder plot but also for the use of government funds to support it through fraud.
The defendants were expected to make their first federal court appearance in Miami Monday at 10 a.m. ET. Because cameras are prohibited inside federal courtrooms, the exclusive tarmac footage is the only visual record of their arrival in U.S. custody. (Fox News Channel)
Four alleged leaders of the 2021 assassination conspiracy were convicted in Miami in May and could receive life sentences.
During a nine-week federal trial, prosecutors argued that the men recruited roughly two dozen former Colombian soldiers and provided them with financing, firearms, ammunition and tactical vests.
“When you pick up the phone and engage with foreign partners at a historic level, as we’ve done — a 400% increase these last 18 months — this is what happens,” Patel said in his statement.
He also thanked FBI Miami for leading the investigation and praised the law enforcement agencies that carried out the transfer.
Haitian Justice Minister Patrick Pelissier confirmed in a statement that suspects had been transferred from Haiti to the US, adding that Haitian judicial proceedings had been delayed.
“While the American procedure has recorded significant progress, notably arrests, prosecutions, and convictions, the Haitian procedure remains confronted with major difficulties and has not, to date, resulted in a trial being held, after five years of proceedings,” Pelissier said.
In Haiti, prominent human rights activist Pierre Espérance said that the slow pace of the Haitian case and the transfer of the 18 suspects to the U.S. was a “disgrace for the Haitian justice system.”
He argued for strengthening the country’s justice system to allow for such complex cases to be tried inside Haiti, rather than sending them to the U.S. for prosecution.