Former DEA informant pleads GUILTY in Miami court to role in assassinating Haiti’s president in 2021 – sparking years of turmoil in war-torn island nation

A former confidential informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration pleaded guilty Tuesday to plotting to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moise, whose killing in 2021 sparked unprecedented unrest in the Caribbean country.

Joseph Vincent, a dual Haitian-American citizen who lived in the United States and attended meetings in South Florida and Haiti before the killing, is the fourth of 11 Miami defendants to plead guilty.

He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison on charges including conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping outside the United States, and conspiracy to provide material support and resources.

According to authorities, the conspiracy involved about 20 Colombian citizens and several US citizens of Haitian descent.

The conspirators initially planned to kidnap the Haitian president, but later decided to kill him. Investigators say the conspirators hoped to obtain contracts under Moses’ successor.

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, whose assassination in 2021 sparked unprecedented unrest in the Caribbean country

People take part in a day of protests as Haitians pay tribute to slain President Jovenel Moise, in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, July 22, 2021.

Vincent, wearing a beige shirt and inmate pants, pleaded guilty at a hearing before Federal Judge Jose E. Martinez that lasted 20 minutes. He sat next to his lawyer, Kenneth Schwartz. He was handcuffed and had shackles on his ankles.

“Guilty, your honor,” Vincent responded after the judge asked him how he would defend himself.

Vincent said he reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, something defendants often do in hopes of getting a lighter sentence.

Under the terms, he agreed to cooperate with the investigation, and the government said it would drop two charges of conspiracy to commit crimes against the United States.

The judge set a sentencing hearing for February 9, 2024.

Other defendants who have pleaded guilty include retired Colombian army officer Germán Alejandro Rivera García, who was sentenced to life in prison in October; Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar, who was also sentenced to life in prison in June; and former Haitian senator John Joel Joseph, who was detained in Jamaica before being extradited to Miami last year and is due to be sentenced on December 19.

They are all part of what U.S. prosecutors have called a plot hatched in Haiti and Florida that ended with mercenaries fatally shooting Moise at his private home near the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021. He was 53 years old.

Vincent was close to Haitian-American suspects James Solage and Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a South Florida resident and pastor whose ambitions to succeed Moïse as president led to the murder, according to charges brought by prosecutors. Both were among the first to be arrested after Moses was shot 12 times in his home.

Police abandon their vehicle during a demonstration that turned violent as protesters demanded justice for slain President Jovenel Moise in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, Thursday, July 22, 2021.

A man runs past a burning barricade during a day of demonstrations in Cap-Haitien, Haiti, July 22, 2021.

After the murder, Vincent protested his innocence and told a Haitian judge that he was an interpreter for Colombian soldiers accused of storming the president’s residence and killing him.

More than 40 suspects were arrested in Haiti in the case, most of them shortly after Moise was fatally wounded in an attack that also wounded his wife Martine Moise. Those detained include 18 former Colombian soldiers accused of participating in the plot and several senior Haitian police officers.

Haiti appointed five judges to hear the case, and four of them resigned for various reasons, including fear of being killed.

In the two years since the killing, Haiti has seen a surge in gang violence, prompting the prime minister to demand the immediate deployment of foreign military forces in October 2022.

In October this year, the UN Security Council voted to send a multinational force led by Kenya to help fight the gangs.

However, the deployment was delayed. Kenya has said its personnel need more training and funding, and the local high court has extended an order blocking the rollout, with a hearing set for late January. No deployment date has been announced.