Rodolphe Jaar Pleads Guilty for Role in Assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse
MIAMI, FL – The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) says a businessman and former drug trafficker with dual Haitian and Chilean citizenship pleaded guilty before a US judge in the Southern District of Florida on Friday to three charges involving his role in the assassination of former Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
Moïse was assassinated on July 7, 2021 during a raid on his residence in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.
The DOJ said Rodolphe Jaar, 50, who was arrested in January, pleaded guilty to the three charges.
He was charged with conspiring 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.
As alleged in the complaint, which was unsealed in January, the DOJ said the defendant and others — including a group of about 20 Colombian citizens and a number of dual Haitian-American citizens — “participated in a plot to kidnap or kill the Haitian President.”
“In particular, as alleged, Jaar was present when another conspirator (‘Co-conspirator #1’) secured the signature of a former Haitian judge on a written request for assistance to further the arrest and imprisonment of President Moise,” the DOJ said.
According to the complaint, “on June 28, 2021, Co-conspirator #1, a dual Haitian-American citizen traveled from Haiti to the United States in furtherance of the conspiracy and provided other individuals with the document, and flew from Florida back to Haiti on July 1, 2021, to participate in the operation against the president.”
As alleged in the complaint, while the plot initially focused on conducting a kidnapping of the Haitian President as part of a purported arrest operation, it ultimately resulted in a plot to kill the president.
The complaint alleges that “on July 7, 2021, various co-conspirators entered President Moise’s residence in Haiti with the intent and purpose of killing him, and in fact the president was killed.”
As alleged in the complaint, Jaar was “responsible for providing weapons to the Colombian co-conspirators to facilitate carrying out the operation; several of the Colombian co-conspirators also stayed at a residence controlled by Jaar.”
After the assassination, Jaar allegedly communicated with Co-conspirator #1 and others to assist the Colombians and Co-conspirator #1, while they were hiding from Haitian authorities.
Co-conspirator #1 was subsequently arrested by Haitian authorities, the DOJ said.
It said Jaar was arrested in the Dominican Republic and agreed to travel to the United States.
The DOJ said Jaar, who is scheduled to be sentenced on June 2, faces the statutory maximum term of life imprisonment and a fine of up to US$250,000.
