Former Haitian Senator Joseph Joel John has been sentenced to life in prison by a Florida federal judge for his role in conspiring to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. The sentencing occurred earlier this Tuesday, handed down by Federal Judge Jose Martinez in a hearing held in Miami, Florida. Life imprisonment, the harshest sentence available, was reserved for the former Senator documents reveal.
In John’s plea agreement, he admitted to committing three criminal conspiracy charges, each of them seriously contemplated. These included conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a plan to kidnap or kill outside the US, resulting in death; providing material support and resources towards the conspiracy, and the conspiracy to kill or kidnap a person outside the US.
John was in cahoots with multiple co-conspirators including Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, James Solages, and Christian Sanon among others. Their scheme to forcibly remove or assassinate Moïse began in April 2021, with sinister plotting continuing until July 7, 2021, when Moïse was tragically killed in his private home in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
In the aftermath, Haiti has seen a steep rise in violence and political unrest. The United Nations has recently authorized the dispatching of 1,000 Kenyan police officers in an attempt to quell the violence, which is largely led by over 200 gangs now dominating Haiti.
John is not alone in his guilt; he is the third of the 11 suspects to be charged and sentenced in Miami. Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar and retired Colombian army officer Germán Alejandro Rivera García also find themselves sentenced to life in prison for contributing to the conspiracy that ended Moïse’s life.
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