A Florida jury on Friday convicted four men of conspiracy in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Mo\u00efse, whose death led to extraordinary turmoil in the Caribbean nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Florida served as a central location for planning and financing the plot to oust Mo\u00efse and replace him with someone of the conspirators\u2019 choosing, U.S. prosecutors alleged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and James Solages were found guilty of conspiring to kill or kidnap Haiti\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prosecutors argued that the men had their own leader in mind and had hoped to enrich themselves with a new government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mo\u00efse was killed on July 7, 2021, when about two dozen foreign mercenaries, mostly from Colombia, attacked his home near Port-au-Prince. Mo\u00efse\u2019s wife, Martine, was wounded during the attack and flown to the U.S. for treatment. In Haiti, meanwhile, gang leaders have grown increasingly violent and empowered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Martine Mo\u00efse was the first witness at trial, which began in March in Miami\u2019s federal court, describing through a Creole interpreter how she awoke to the sounds of gunfire after midnight. She told jurors that she turned to her husband in bed next to her to ask what was going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHoney, we are dead,\u201d Jovenel Mo\u00efse replied, according to his wife\u2019s testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Christian Sanon is a dual Haitian-American citizen whom investigators say was initially favored by the conspirators to replace Mo\u00efse. Solages was a CTU representative in Haiti who coordinated with Sanon and others, officials said. Sanon will face trial at a later date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 Mo\u00efse, who had overstayed his term as president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least five others have pleaded guilty in the conspiracy and are serving life sentences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n