Businessman gets life for the assassination of Haitian President Moise

A businessman from Chile has been sentenced to life in prison for assassinating Haitian President Jovenel Moise.

Rodolphe Jaar- 51, was sentenced by Federal Judge Jose’ Martinez for his role in the assassination of Moise on July 07, 2021.

The 53-year-old Haitian President was gunned down at his private residence in Port au Prince. His wife was also injured in the incident.

The Chilean businessman helped Colombian mercenaries get weapons to carry out the killing.

According to reports from Haitian authorities, the assassination was carried out by 26 Colombians who were heavily armed. Two Haitian Americans were also part of the team. Of that total, fifteen were captured including the two Haitian Americans. Three of the culprits were killed and eight remain on the run

Jaar is the first person to be convicted and sentenced after US prosecutors said was a broad plot by the conspirators in Haiti and Florida to reap lucrative contracts under a new administration.

Jaar, reports say, has dual Haitian and Chilean citizenship. He was detained in the Dominican Republic in January last year and pleaded guilty in March to “conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States, and to providing material support resulting in death”

According to documents from the courts, the initial plan was to kidnap the Haitian president but the conspirators changed their minds somewhere along the way and decided to kill him instead

Jaars hearing did not even last 15 minutes. It took 10 actually. The judge handed down the sentence at the federal court in Miami, giving him the maximum sentence even though he plead guilty, and said he would cooperate with investigators in hopes of having his sentence reduced.

Jaar has the right to appeal his sentence in two weeks. It is unclear whether he would so do

Judge Martínez set a hearing for August 21 to hand down a possible fine.