A mural depicting the late President Jovenel Moise adorns a wall in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on July 21, 2021.Joseph Odelyn/The Associated Press
Dual Haitian-Chilean citizen Rodolphe Jaar on Friday pleaded guilty before a U.S. judge to three charges involving his role in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, killed in his home in July 2021, court documents showed.
Jaar is one of 11 defendants in the case, which includes businessmen accused of helping obtain vehicles and firearms from Florida and former Colombian soldiers accused of gunning down Moise in his bedroom.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Jaar had been accused of helping provide weapons to the Colombians, who would also have stayed at a house he controlled, and helping them while they were in hiding from Haitian authorities.
He was arrested in January 2022 in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
Sentencing for Jaar, who could face up to life in prison, has been set for June 2 in Miami, court filings showed.
Moise’s murder left a political vacuum in the Caribbean nation and emboldened powerful gangs who now effectively control large parts of the country and whose turf wars are fueling a humanitarian crisis with at least 160,000 people displaced.
Jaar’s lawyer declined to comment.
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