The FBI has transported 18 defendants from Haiti to Miami, Florida to face new federal charges related to the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
The 18 defendants are among 30 people indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida over alleged roles in the plot to kill or kidnap Moïse. The charges include allegations involving financing, recruitment and logistical support for the operation, according to DOJ.
Authorities said the alleged conspiracy also involved a fraud and money laundering scheme in which money obtained through COVID-19 relief programs was allegedly used to help finance the assassination plot.
The operation to bring the defendants to the United States involved FBI Hostage Rescue Team members, FBI Miami agents and Homeland Security Investigations agents. They traveled aboard a military aircraft equipped to operate in the area around Port-au-Prince, where authorities faced possible threats from armed gangs.
Among those transported to Florida is Joseph Felix Badio, a former anti-corruption official at Haiti’s Ministry of Justice who is considered a key suspect in the investigation, according to AFP.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said the defendants are being brought before American courts years after Moïse was killed.
“The message is clear: Time and distance are no shield from American justice,” Quiñones said. He added that authorities would continue pursuing people accused of financing, facilitating or supporting violent criminal conspiracies regardless of how long it takes or where they are found.
FBI Miami Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles said the FBI remains focused on identifying and prosecuting people allegedly involved in the assassination plot.
“In July 2021, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated by individuals seeking to profit from illicit financial opportunities and business contracts,” Skiles said in a statement posted on X.
“Today’s multi-location and international arrests underscore the FBI’s continued commitment to bringing all participants in this plot to justice,” he added.
According to recently unsealed court documents, at least 22 defendants are accused of directly participating in a multinational conspiracy involving financing, recruitment and logistical support for the attack on July 7, 2021.
The defendants facing charges related to the alleged assassination conspiracy include Christian Emmanuel Sanon, Joseph Felix Badio, Vitel’Homme Innocent, Carlos Giovanni Guerrero Torres, Victor Albeiro Pineda Cardona and several others.
Four additional defendants, including Byron Sherrod Rainer, Jameela Ammara Simmons, Marcel Williamson and Travis Barrett Nave, face charges related to an alleged Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan fraud and money laundering scheme.
Certain defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. Any sentence would ultimately be determined by a federal judge after consideration of federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
The U.S. continues to prosecute other defendants in the case. Four men were convicted in Florida in May after a jury found them guilty of conspiring to kill or kidnap Moïse and providing material support for the plot. At least five other defendants have pleaded guilty and are serving life sentences.
Moïse was assassinated at his private residence in Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021. The investigation into the killing and alleged conspiracy has continued across multiple countries, with U.S. authorities working alongside Haitian law enforcement and international partners.