The case of James Solages and Joseph Vincent, the mastermind of the Haitian assassination of Mose, a pastor, doctor, and failed businessman
The suspects now in custody of the U.S. government include James Solages, 37, and Joseph Vincent, 57, two Haitian-Americans who were among the first arrested after Moïse was shot 12 times at his private home near the capital of Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021.
Authorities have identified Christian Sanon, an elderly pastor, doctor and failed businessman as a key player and have charged him. His associates have suggested he was duped by the real — and still unidentified — masterminds behind the assassination that has plunged Haiti deep into political chaos and unleashed a level of gang violence not seen in decades.
The fourth suspect was identified as Colombian citizen Germán Rivera García, 44, who is among nearly two dozen former Colombian soldiers charged in the case.
The US Justice Department said Rivera, Solages, and Vincent are charged with conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside of the US and providing material support and resources resulting in death.
Sanon is accused of conspiring to smuggle goods and providing export information. Court documents state that he allegedly shipped 20 ballistic vests to Haiti, but that the items shipped were described as “medical X-ray vests and school supplies.”
It is not yet known if the four suspects have attorneys who could comment on the development. They are due in federal court on Wednesday.
The seven suspects in the case are currently in the U.S. Dozens of others are still locked up in Haiti’s main penitentiary, which is often overcrowded and lacks food and water.
In Haiti, the case has stopped due to the fact that four others who were involved in the case were dismissed or resigned for personal reasons.
One judge told The Associated Press that his family asked him not to take the case because they feared for his life. Another judge stepped down after one of his assistants passed away.
The day of Mose’s death: Haiti’s new leader, Sanon, and the detention of a former Colombian soldier
Court documents state that exactly two months before Moïse was killed, Vincent texted Solages a video of a cat “reacting alertly” to the sound of gunfire and that Solages laughed, prompting Vincent to respond: “That’s the way Jovenel will be pretty much, but (sooner) if you guys really up to it!”
Then in June, some 20 former Colombian soldiers were recruited to supposedly help arrest the president and protect Sanon, who envisioned himself as Haiti’s new leader. The documents show Rivera was in charge of that group.
The plan was to detain Moïse and whisk him to an unidentified location by plane, but that plot fell through when the suspects couldn’t find a plane or sufficient weapons, authorities said.
Solages had told other people on the day of the killing that it was a CIA operation and that the goal was to kill the president. Shortly before Moïse was killed, Solages yelled that it was supposedly a DEA operation so that the president’s security detail would comply.
About a year after the killing, U.S. authorities say they interviewed Solages, Vincent and Rivera while they were in Haitian custody and that they agreed to talk.
That same month, U.S. authorities arrested Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios, a former Colombian soldier who was deported by Jamaica after fleeing there from Haiti. While en route to Colombia, he was detained by U.S. officials in Panama during a layover.
Izaguirre said that the trial will be delayed because the four other suspects have to be tried at the same time. The trial could possibly be postponed up to four months because Palacios was ready to begin in March.
Intriago, Ortiz, and Bergmann: Two alleged criminal gangs in Haiti after the August 17 assassination
An attorney for the president’s widow, Martine Mose, who was injured in the attack, did not return a message.
In December, Martine Moïse tweeted that her husband — who also has been accused of corruption, which he denied — had fought against it, which resulted in his assassination. 17 months later, the people are demanding justice.
The squad of former soldiers is among the dozens who are suspected of carrying out the July 2021 coup attempt that was intended to be an assassination. Once Mose left the way, the plan was for the plotters to get lucrative contracts.
Antonio “Tony” Intriago is accused of scheming to kill or kidnapping someone outside the US while he was owner of CTU Security. CTU company representative Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, 50, a Colombian-born resident of the U.S., faces the same charges.
Florida-based U.S. financier Walter Veintemilla, 54, of Weston, Fla., is accused of funding the operation. A fourth suspect, Frederick Joseph Bergmann Jr., 64, of Tampa, is accused of smuggling goods including 20 CTU-branded ballistic vests disguised as medical X-ray vests and school supplies.
A power vacuum following the assassination has allowed gangs in Haiti to gain more power and control more territory, with experts estimating that they control 60% of Port-au-Prince. Prime Minister Henry called for the deployment of foreign troops following a spike in abductions, rapes and killings. The UN Security Council did not accept the October request and has so far implemented sanctions.
According to charging documents, by that time the men planned to stage a public uprising to oust President Moise and install Sanon as president.
Authorities said that Intriago, Ortiz and Veintemilla expected to “reap significant financial benefits” if Sanon became president via anticipated contracts for infrastructure, military equipment and the provision of security forces.
What has been done against the country since the assassination of the president, M. Mose, since the coupling killed the president?
According to Solages, the current president was telling him to “cut the messages that could compromise you in case of being captured.” Ortiz also sent a text message to another suspect, Colombian citizen Germán Rivera García, with a photo of a whiteboard sketch of an assault plan including “snipers” and “10 warrior-neutralizers,” according to court documents.
Authorities said Veintemilla provided $15,000 to Solages to buy bullets and tools for their weapons, as well as $250,000 to buy armored vests, using a codename for “screws” and “nails.”
Also detained are former Haitian Sen. John Joël Joseph, who had fled to Jamaica, and former U.S. government informant and Haitian businessman Rodolphe Jaar, who was extradited from the Dominican Republic.
The situation has angered and frustrated the president’s widow, Martine Moïse, who lashed out in a 13-minute video she posted earlier this month, noting that things have worsened in Haiti since the assassination.
She said it was a huge crime that happened against the nation. Where is the law of the country, where are the people?