Florida Jury Convicts Four Men in 2021 Assassination of Haitian President Moïse

A federal jury in Florida convicted four men Friday for their roles in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. The plot, organized in the Sunshine State, has plunged the Caribbean nation into gang violence.

Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and James Solages were found guilty of conspiracy to kill or kidnap Haiti's elected leader, providing material support and violating the U.S. Neutrality Act. The men face potential life sentences.

Federal prosecutors said South Florida acted as the central hub for financing and planning the deadly July 7, 2021, home invasion.

The conspirators sought to oust Moïse and install dual Haitian-American citizen Christian Sanon as a new leader, with plans to profit financially from the regime.

Ortiz and Intriago operated a Miami-area security firm called Counter Terrorist Unit, or CTU. Veintemilla led a South Florida capital lending group.

The trial began in March. Moïse's widow, Martine, gave testimony about the night when roughly two dozen foreign mercenaries, mostly Colombians, stormed their home near Port-au-Prince.

Speaking through a Creole interpreter, she described her husband's final words as gunfire broke out: "Honey, we are dead."

Martine Moïse suffered wounds in the attack and was flown to the U.S. for emergency treatment.

Defense attorneys contended the men had been manipulated into taking the blame for an internal coup. They said the men believed they were carrying out a legitimate Haitian arrest warrant to free the country from a president who had overstayed his term.

The Florida verdicts add to other U.S. convictions, with at least five people serving life sentences after guilty pleas.

In Haiti, 20 people, including 17 Colombian soldiers, face charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.