Former Haitian senator pleads guilty in Miami to conspiring in presidential assassination

A former Haitian senator pleaded guilty Tuesday in Miami federal court to conspiring with others in Haiti and South Florida to kill his country’s president, including attending a key meeting with Colombian commandos on July 6, 2021 — the day before authorities say they assassinated Jovenel Moïse.

The former senator, Joseph Joël John, who had been detained in Jamaica before being brought to Miami last year, acknowledged to FBI agents that he had met with some co-conspirators just before they “embarked on the mission to kill President Moïse” at his suburban home outside Port-au-Prince, according to court records.

John, 52, admitted that he helped obtain rental vehicles, made introductions to Haitian gang members and tried to get firearms for the co-conspirators’ operation targeting Haiti’s leader, according to a factual statement filed with his plea agreement. Joseph’s goal was to become the prime minister under Moïse’s successor following the leader’s removal from office.

John pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to kill Haiti’s president, providing that support, and conspiring to kill or kidnap a person outside the United States. He faces up to life in prison at his sentencing on Dec. 19 before U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez, but he is cooperating with federal prosecutors and could receive less punishment down the road.

John is the third defendant out of 11 charged in the Haiti assassination case with either conspiring to assassinate Moïse or with playing a supporting role in an FBI-led case prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Florida.

The two other defendants who previously pleaded guilty to the murder conspiracy are:

Retired Colombian army officer Germán Alejandro Rivera Garcia, aka “Colonel Mike,” 45, admitted last month that he met with several co-conspirators from Haiti and South Florida before leading a group of former Colombian soldiers to the Haitian president’s home to kill him. Rivera faces up to life in prison at his sentencing later this month.

Also, Haitian business man Rodolphe Jaar, 51, admitted to providing weapons, lodging and money in the conspiracy to assassinate Haiti’s president. A dual Haitian and Chilean citizen, Jaar was sentenced in June to life in prison but is hoping to get his prison term decreased with cooperation. Previously, he was also convicted of drug trafficking in the United States.

John, who also goes by the name John Joël Joseph, was transferred in May 2022 to Miami from Jamaica, where he had been jailed on an immigration violation. John served in the Haitian Senate from 2009-15 and worked as a political and security consultant.

After John’s transfer and arrest in Miami, his wife and two sons were allowed to come to the United States, according to his defense attorney, Brian Kirlew.

“They’re here in the United States, and they’re safe,” Kirlew said after the plea hearing. “The hope is they can remain here.”

John, according to a Haitian police investigative report, rented five vehicles for the deadly mission five weeks before the murder plot was carried out. He was joined by a powerful gang leader, Vitelhomme Innocent, and a former rebel leader known as “the Torturer,” Miradieu Faustin.

John also attended meetings in South Florida and Haiti with key suspects and tried to acquire weapons and ammunition for them, according to his signed factual statement and other court records. He’s believed to have been an interlocutor between the various groups. On the night of the killing, he was in communication with several main suspects.

READ MORE: Made in Miami. Who was involved in killing of Haiti president Jovenel Moïse?

John was part of the plotting in the run-up to the president’s killing, prosecutors say.

In April 2021, John joined other co-conspirators at the Doral office of Counter Terrorist Security, including the company’s CEO, Anthony Intriago, another CTU employee, Arcángel Pretel Ortiz, who was also an FBI informant, James Solages, a Haitian American who also worked for CTU, and Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian American physician who aspired to replace Haiti’s president in a planned coup.

John also attended another meting that month at the Weston office of Walter Veintemilla’s Worldwide Capital Lending Group, which provided $173,000 in funds for the group’s plot to remove Haiti’s leader by force. Others attending the meeting were Ortiz, Intriago, Solages and Sanon.

“At meeting, the group spoke about financial opportunities to invest in Haiti after the removal of President Moïse,” according to John’s factual statement.

John was also present at meetings in Haiti where the operation to kill the country’s leader was discussed, including one gathering at Jaar’s home the day before the assassination. Among those attending that critical meeting: Solages, Jaar, Rivera, Joseph Vincent, a Haitian American from South Florida who previously worked as an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios, a Colombian commando who is accused of being involved in the assault on the president’s home.

“At that time, Solages told John and others present, in substance, that the operation was going to result in the assassination of President Moïse,” according to John’s statement.

The following day, July 7, 2021, John’s co-conspirators attacked the president’s residence and fatally shot him and wounded his wife.