After the death of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, which sent the Caribbean country into political unrest and bloodshed, a former soldier from Colombia recently entered a guilty plea.
During a brief hearing before federal Judge José E. Martínez, 45-year-old Mario Antonio Palacios entered a guilty plea to three offenses, including conspiracy to conduct murder or kidnapping outside the United States. When the court inquired if Palacios was pleading guilty, he said in Spanish, “Yes, your honor,” while seated next to his lawyer, Alfredo Izaguirre.
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Of the eleven defendants in Miami, Palacios is the fifth to enter a guilty plea for the assassination in 2021. He agreed with the prosecution to cooperate with the investigation and to enter a guilty plea. Upon his sentencing on March 1, he may face a life sentence; however, as part of the agreement, the prosecution acknowledged that he was just a minor player in the scheme.
Izaguirre informed the press following the session “He didn’t know what he was going to get into. He wasn’t part of the plan.” He added, “He didn’t recruit anybody. He didn’t make any decision-making authority in regards to the conspiracy. I think the government understands.”
Prosecutors claim that the conspirators originally intended to abduct the president of Haiti but ultimately chose to murder him. It is said that the conspirators had planned to secure contracts under the new Moïse. According to police, the conspiracy involved about 20 former Colombian troops as well as a few dual residents of Haiti and the United States.
On July 7, 2021, Moïse was shot twelve times in his private residence close to Port-Au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. 53 was his age. Martine Moïse, his wife, suffered injuries in the assault.
In this case, three defendants have already received life sentences. Joseph Vincent, a fourth person who is both Haitian American and American, entered a guilty plea this month and is scheduled to be sentenced in February.
The trial is supposed to begin in May 2024, although there have been many postponements of that date.
During a trip from Jamaica to Colombia, Palacios made a layover in Panama and was taken into custody in Jamaica in October 2021. He was then transported to the US. He was interrogated while he was still hiding in Jamaica, according to federal investigators.
More than forty people have been detained by Haitian authorities; they include numerous senior police officials as well as eighteen former Colombian soldiers who are alleged to have participated in the conspiracy. Four of the at least five judges who were appointed to the case in the Caribbean island have resigned for a variety of reasons, including fear of death.
The spike in gang violence in Haiti in the two years since Moïse’s killing prompted the prime minister to call for the rapid deployment of foreign military forces. In October, the UN Security Council decided to send a multinational force under Kenyan leadership to assist in combating gangs.
However, there has been a delay in the implementation. The first set of around 300 cops is anticipated by February, according to Kenyan officials who spoke with the news media. The decision in a case aimed at preventing the deployment is still pending. January is when a decision is anticipated.
