Assassination of Haiti President: Four Suspects From South Florida Convicted For Killing Jovenel Moïse

A federal court in Miami announced the convictions of four defendants in connection with the assassination of Jovenel Moïse, the former president of Haiti. The verdict in the long-running case, stemming from the 2021 killing, came after nearly 39 witness testimonies over nine weeks of trial. Jurors also reportedly deliberated extensively on one of the nine charges.

Prosecutors said the defendants took part in a carefully planned plot to kill Moïse as part of a scheme to seize political power. Since the assassination, Haiti’s political and security crisis has deepened significantly, with gang violence and instability continuing to devastate the country.

On May 8, 2026, a 12-member jury in Miami found four men guilty of conspiring to kidnap or kill Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. The defendants included Arcángel Pretel Ortiz and Antonio “Tony” Intriago, who were associated with Counter Terrorist Federal Academy and Counter Terrorist Unit Security.

The other two convicted men were mortgage broker Walter Veintemilla and CTU employee James Solages.

Prosecutors alleged that the four men planned the operation while based in South Florida. They were accused of recruiting a group of former Colombian soldiers and initially directing them to carry out a violent overthrow of Moïse’s government through a coup plan. Prosecutors said the plot later shifted to an assassination only weeks before the attack took place.

During the trial, prosecutors alleged that the South Florida-based group intended to replace Moïse with a new leader who would potentially award CTU security and infrastructure contracts. In closing arguments, prosecutor Sean McLaughlin told jurors, “This case is very simple. This is a case about greed, arrogance and power.”

After the verdict was returned, defense attorneys for the four men said they planned to appeal the convictions. Since their arrests, the defendants have remained in custody at South Florida detention facilities.

The accused were found guilty of five counts. It includes conspiracy to provide material support, a terrorism related charge and a violation of the U.S. Neutrality Act. It bars any American citizen from waging war in any country in peacetime.

While all four defendants were tried at the same court and at the same time, the trial of one of them remains pending. The fifth suspect, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, will face his trial later, once he recovers from his health issues. Given the sentence, the remaining four of them can be sentenced to life in prison for their crimes.

It was on July 7, 2021, when the 43rd President of Haiti was assassinated at his residence in Port-au-Prince. At around 1 p.m. on the fateful day, a group of gunmen stormed Moïse’s residence.

Among all, about 7 individuals entered his bedroom, violently beat him up and killed him by firing multiple shots. They even carried smartphones, using which they took images of the corpse and sent them as proof to the mastermind behind the assassination.