A federal jury in Miami on Friday convicted four men for their roles in the conspiracy that led to the July 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla, and James Solages were found guilty of conspiring to kill or kidnap a foreign official, providing material support for the plot, and violating the U.S. Neutrality Act. Each could face a life sentence.
Prosecutors argued that the men used South Florida to plan and finance the removal of Moïse, hoping to install their own leader and enrich themselves through a new government.
“These defendants pursued power, influence, and profit through violence,” U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said in a statement. “They supported a conspiracy that crossed borders, destabilized a friendly nation, and ended with the murder of a sitting president. The jury has spoken, and the rule of law has answered.”
Moïse was killed on July 7, 2021, when about two dozen foreign mercenaries, mostly from Colombia, stormed his home near Port-au-Prince. His wife, Martine Moïse, was wounded and later flown to the United States for treatment. She was the trial’s first witness, testifying through a Creole interpreter that she awoke after midnight to gunfire. She turned to her husband in bed beside her to ask what was happening.
“Honey, we are dead,” Jovenel Moïse replied, according to her testimony.
Ortiz and Intriago ran Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy and Counter Terrorist Unit Security, collectively known as CTU. Veintemilla was a principal of Worldwide Capital Lending Group, also based in South Florida. Solages served as CTU’s representative in Haiti and coordinated with Christian Sanon, a dual Haitian-American citizen whom prosecutors said the conspirators initially wanted to replace Moïse. Sanon will face trial at a later date.
Defense lawyers argued that the investigation was flawed and that their clients were manipulated into taking blame for a coup they did not lead. They maintained that the group believed it had a legitimate warrant signed by a Haitian judge and was acting to liberate Haiti from a president who had overstayed his term. The jury rejected those arguments.
At least five other people have pleaded guilty to related charges and are serving life sentences. In Haiti, about 20 people face charges, including 17 Colombian soldiers, but gang violence, death threats, and the crumbling judicial system have stalled the investigation.