A former US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) informant was sentenced to prison on Friday life imprisonmentwhile another man pleaded guilty in a trial in the United States for the assassination of Haiti’s last president, Jovenel Moïse, in 2021.
Both are among 11 defendants who took part in a conspiracy against Moïse by sending a team of Colombian mercenaries to kill him at his residence in Port-au-Prince. Of the four men convicted so far in Miami, all received life sentences.
The president was shot in his bedroom during an attack and his death left a lasting impression political vacuum in which alliances of violent gangs have expanded their territories and it is estimated that they now control most of the capital.
Joseph Vincent, a Haitian-American, had pleaded guilty to aiding the conspiracy through political advice and meetings with community leaders. According to a court document, he posed as a U.S. government official.
On the same day, Florida resident Frederick Joseph Bergmann Jr pleaded guilty to the charges against him in this caseincluding providing false or misleading information about exports.
Bergmann Jr. was arrested a year ago along with three other Florida residents. At the time, U.S. authorities said he helped finance the harboring of mercenaries in Haiti and the shipment of bulletproof vests to that country by falsifying export documents.
Another investigation is being conducted in Haitiin which the judge requested the questioning of figures such as Prime Minister Ariel Henry and his widow Martine Moïse.
In the years since Moïse’s death, violent armed gangs have dramatically expanded their power, while their turf wars have created a humanitarian crisis and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
With information from Reuters.
ORP