In Miami, on Tuesday, a former Haitian senator was sentenced to life in prison for his role in conspiring to assassinate Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse in 2021. This plot caused significant chaos in the Caribbean nation. John Joel Joseph is one of 11 suspects detained and charged in Miami, and he was the third to be sentenced for his involvement.
Described as a plot hatched in both Haiti and Florida, U.S. prosecutors revealed that the plan was to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill President Moïse, who was slain at his private home near the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince on July 7, 2021.
Joseph, who was a well-known politician and an opponent of the slain president’s Tet Kale party, had been extradited from Jamaica in June to face charges of conspiring to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States.
Two months ago, Joseph signed a plea agreement in the hopes of receiving a reduced sentence. In exchange, he agreed to cooperate with the investigation, in which sometimes, U.S. attorneys recommend that judges reduce a sentence if the convicted person collaborates with their investigation.
Despite Joseph pleading for mercy and claiming that he never intended to commit murder, the judge ordered him to life imprisonment at a hearing.
The cases of those involved in the assassination plot, including Joseph’s, are ongoing, and seven more defendants are awaiting trial in South Florida.
Following Moïse’s assassination, Haiti has experienced increased gang violence, leading to a request for the deployment of an armed force. In response, the U.N. Security Council voted to send a multinational force led by Kenya to help fight the gangs, with a deployment expected in February.