Crime · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
FBI Transfers 18 Moïse Assassination Suspects From Haiti to Florida for Trial
Eighteen Moïse assassination suspects were extradited to Florida to face federal trial. A military plane transported them from Port-au-Prince to the Southern District of Florida.
Whether extradition reflects Haitian justice failure or US accountability.
9 of 10 outlets skipped it: badio was flown out with Colombians.
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ABC News
““Today marks the next major phase in our pursuit of accountability for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse,” he wrote on X.”Read the original ↗
vijesti.me stresses Haitian justice as a disgrace, while ABC News stresses US accountability.
18 suspects to Florida
A military aircraft transported 18 suspects in the 2021 assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse from Haiti to the U.S. state of Florida on Sunday to face trial in the Southern District of Florida. Jason Reding Quinones said, "Today marks the next major phase in our pursuit of accountability for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse," and he added, "We will follow the evidence wherever it leads, to those who financed it, facilitated it, supported it or committed crimes to make it possible." Brett Skiles said the FBI’s work showed, "Today’s multi-location and international arrests underscore the FBI’s continued commitment to bringing all participants in this plot to justice," as the suspects were moved from Port-au-Prince to Florida.
“The move shifts a stalled case into American courts as Haiti battles violence and judicial collapse.”
The transfer followed Moïse’s killing on July 7, 2021, when he was shot dead at his private residence by a group of about 20 military-trained Colombian mercenaries. The extradition came as Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security said it surrendered the suspects "to allow for their trial."
Who was moved and why
Joseph Félix Badio was among the 18 suspects transferred, and the sources described him as one of the main suspects and a former official in the Haitian Ministry of Justice’s anti-corruption unit. Jason Reding Quinones said 30 people have been indicted in the case, while Brett Skiles said there were multiple arrests in the U.S. and abroad on Sunday. The suspects who remained in Haiti awaiting trial included 17 Colombian soldiers and Joseph Badio, and Badio was arrested in Haiti in October 2023 after being on the run for more than two years.
Relatives of some of those detained said they had not expected the move, and Diana Marcela Arbelaez Llano said, "We never imagined that the United States would have taken them so suddenly." Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security said proceedings in Haiti "continue to face significant difficulties" after it decided to strengthen cooperation with American judicial authorities.
Trial fallout and stakes
The extradition shifted a case that had stalled in Haiti, where the investigation was described as being stalled by gang violence, death threats and a collapsing judicial system. In the U.S., a jury in Florida convicted four men in May, and the sources named Arcángel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and James Solages as those convicted, with the men facing potential life sentences. Quinones said the U.S. would continue pursuing accountability, and he wrote, "Five years later, we are still bringing defendants before American courts, and we are not finished."
In Haiti, Pierre Esperance called the transfer a "disgrace for the Haitian justice system" and said he wanted an overhaul so complicated cases could be tried inside Haiti in the future. The sources also tied the assassination to a transnational plot involving CTU, and they said the four defendants were connected to the Florida-based private security company CTU, which federal prosecutors said lured them with promises of lucrative contracts if Moïse was overthrown.