Haitian-Chilean citizen sentenced to life in prison for assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moïse

Rodolphe Jaar was sentenced on Friday during a 10-minute hearing in Miami to three life sentences for each of three counts, to be served concurrently

President Moïse, 53, was shot dead inside his home in the Pelerin 5 neighborhood, in the hills above Port-au-Prince at 01:00 local time on 7 July 2021

Moïse was shot 12 times and had bullet wounds to his forehead and several to his torso, his left eye was gouged out, the bones in his arm and his ankle broken

Jaar pled guilty in March to three counts, including conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support resulting in death

A dual Haitian-Chilean citizen who pled guilty to federal charges related to his involvement in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse has been sentenced to life in prison, Florida court records show.
Haitian businessman Rodolphe Jaar, [photo, left], is the first person to be convicted and sentenced in what federal prosecutors have described as a sprawling conspiracy to murder the Haitian leader and seize power, aided by Haitian officials, Colombian mercenaries and illegal arms shipments from the United States.
President Moïse, 53, was shot dead inside his home in the Pelerin 5 neighborhood, in the hills above Port-au-Prince at 01:00 local time on 7 July 2021, according to police.
The president was shot 12 times and had bullet wounds to his forehead and several to his torso. His left eye had been gouged out and bones in his arm and in his ankle had been broken, according to one of the judges conducting the investigation.
He died at the scene and was found lying on the floor on his back, his shirt soaked in blood. The first lady, Martine Moïse, was also shot but survived.
Prior to the assassination, the legislative chambers of government had been suspended. The killing served to exacerbate threw the cracks in the country’s already fragile democracy as a virulent succession battle ensued, giving rise to lawlessness and extreme violence as gangs have stepped into the power vacuum.

Haiti’s president, Jovenel Moïse, 53, [photo], was shot dead inside his home in the Pelerin 5 neighborhood, in the hills above the capital, Port-au-Prince at 01:00 local time on 7 July 2021.

At Jaar’s sentencing in Miami on Friday, Judge Jose E. Martinez during a 10-minute hearing, handed down life sentences for each of three counts, to be served concurrently.
Jaar pled guilty in March to three counts – including conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support resulting in death, according to the plea agreement.
Martinez recommended that Jaar be designated to a federal facility in or near South Florida given his background and the offenses, according to the court docket.
In exchange for the guilty plea, Jaar had agreed to be sentenced by a judge, provide truthful testimony, produce documents and records, and appear before a grand jury and at other legal proceedings when called upon by federal prosecutors.
Jaar was one of several suspects who were at large in the months after Moise’s assassination. He was arrested in the Dominican Republic and extradited to the United States in January 2022.
Jaar provided funds used to acquire weapons, provided food and lodging to other co-conspirators, and provided funding to bribe Haitian officials responsible for Moise’s security, according to the plea agreement.

Coup financier Rodolphe Jaar [photo], pled guilty in March to three counts, including conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support resulting in death

Investigators have maintained that dozens of people were involved in the assassination, including 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans. Colombian suspect Mario Palacios also was extradited to the US in 2022.
Palacios managed to flee Haiti after Moise’s assassination, eventually ending up in Jamaica, where he was captured by authorities for entering the country illegally. Hes was being deported from Jamaica to his home country when he was intercepted during a layover in Panama, and was subsequently extradited from Panama to Miami.
Palacios has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States “and providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare for or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap,” according to the US Department of Justice .
If convicted of the charges, Palacios faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.