Mastermind behind the assassination of Haitian President Moise sentenced to life in prison.

On July 7, 2021, the world was shocked by the assassination of the 53-year-old Haitian President Jovenel Moise. The attack took place at his private residence in Port-au-Prince, where he was killed, and his wife, Martine, injured. The incident triggered widespread condemnation and raised concerns about the unstable political situation in Haiti.

Fast forward to January 2022, a 51-year-old Haitian-Chilean businessman named Rodolphe Jaar was detained in the Dominican Republic and arrived in South Florida. He has dual Haitian and Chilean citizenship and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States, and to providing material support resulting in death.

On Friday, a federal judge sentenced Jaar to life imprisonment for his role in the assassination of President Moïse. According to US prosecutors, Jaar helped Colombian mercenaries get weapons to carry out the killing. Court documents showed that the conspirators initially planned to kidnap the Haitian president, and later changed the plan to kill him instead. Jaar was responsible for supplying weapons to Colombian mercenaries for the operation, and several former South American soldiers also stayed in a house controlled by Jaar.

Jaar is the first person to be convicted and sentenced in what US prosecutors have called a broad plot by conspirators in Haiti and Florida to reap lucrative contracts under a new administration. He received the maximum sentence he faced despite pleading guilty and pledging to cooperate with investigators in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.

During a 10-minute court hearing on Friday, Judge José E. Martínez handed down the sentence at the federal court in downtown Miami. Jaar, who entered the courtroom handcuffed and with shackles on his ankles, wearing a prisoner’s beige shirt and pants, listened to the judge’s ruling with his head bowed. He declined to make statements to the judge and has the right to appeal the sentence within two weeks.

The assassination of President Moïse was carried out by a heavily armed commando unit that included 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans, according to Haitian lawmakers. The authorities had said then that 15 Colombians were captured, as well as two Haitian Americans. Three of the assailants were killed, and eight remained on the run.

Jaar’s sentencing comes amid ongoing investigations into the assassination and the role played by other individuals. In addition to Jaar, there are ten other defendants in Miami: former Colombian soldiers Mario Palacios and Germán Alejandro Rivera García; former Haitian Senator John Joel Joseph; Haitian-Americans James Solages, Joseph Vincent, and Christian Emmanuel Sanon; American Federick Joseph Bergmann; Colombian Arcangel Pretel Ortiz; VenezuelanAmerican Antonio Intriago, and the Ecuadorian-American financier Walter Veintemilla.

Judge Martínez set a hearing for August 21 to hand down a possible fine. The sentencing of Jaar is a significant milestone in the investigation into the assassination of President Moïse. The conviction and sentencing of Jaar demonstrate the commitment of the US justice system to hold accountable those who participated in this heinous crime. The families of President Moïse and the Haitian people deserve justice, and the US government is working together with its international partners to bring the perpetrators to justice.