Haitian-American Joseph Vincent set to plead guilty in connection to President Moise’s assassination
Joseph Vincent, a Haitian-American detained in the United States for his suspected involvement in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, is scheduled to plead guilty in federal court in Miami, Florida. According to court documents, Vincent, along with several other suspects, will appear before Judge José E. Martínez on December 5 to request a “guilty plea change hearing.”
Vincent faces a charge of conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping of a person outside the United States, in connection to the killing of President Moise, who was shot dead in July 2021 by a commando group that stormed his residence on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.
In February, Vincent appeared in a Miami court alongside fellow Haitian-Americans James Solages and Christian Sanon, as well as former Colombian military officer Germán Alejandro Rivera García. According to the US Attorney’s Office, the group met in south Florida in April 2021 to plan a change in the Presidency of Haiti and prepared a list of weapons and military equipment, including rifles, machine guns, tear gas, grenades, ammunition, and bulletproof vests.
Furthermore, it was revealed that the suspects attempted to arrest and kidnap the president before ultimately plotting and carrying out his assassination. It is also reported that approximately 20 Colombian citizens and as many Haitians participated in the plot.
The case has also seen the detention of several other individuals, including Colombian Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios, Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar, and former Haitian senator Joseph Joel John. Jaar, who pleaded guilty to providing support to the commando group, was sentenced to life in prison last June.
The upcoming guilty plea change hearing promises to shed further light on the details and motivations behind the conspiracy to assassinate President Moise, as the investigation into this shocking crime continues.