A former Colombian soldier pleaded guilty Friday before the American federal judiciary to conspiring to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, who was shot dead in Port-au-Prince in 2021.
• Also read: Life sentence for a former Haitian senator involved in the assassination of the Haitian president
• Also read: Assassination of the former president of Haiti: A former Colombian soldier was sentenced to life in prison
Mario Antonio Palacios, 45, pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami after entering into a cooperation agreement with prosecutors.
Until he agreed to plead guilty, he had denied for months that he had even the slightest involvement in the former president's assassination.
On July 7, 2021, Jovenel Moïse, aged 53, was shot dead in his private home by a commando of more than 20 people, mostly Colombian mercenaries, without his guards intervening.
According to the indictment, Mr. Palacios entered the president's home with the mercenaries and stole money and jewelry.
However, the public prosecutor's office assumes that the defendant only played a minor role in the conspiracy and had no decision-making authority within the group.
His lawyer, Alfredo Izaguirre, portrayed him as a simple bodyguard and said he was convinced his client could avoid the maximum sentence, life imprisonment. The verdict will be announced on March 1, 2024.
The American judiciary declared itself responsible in this case, in which eleven people were arrested and charged, because part of the assassination plan was hatched in South Florida.
So far, three people have been sentenced to life in prison in this case: former Haitian senator Joseph Joel John, a businessman of Haitian and Chilean nationality, Rodolphe Jaar, and a retired Colombian soldier.
The operation was initially aimed at kidnapping the president but evolved into an assassination attempt, according to court documents.
The death of Jovenel Moïse plunged Haiti into further chaos, as the small Caribbean nation was already plagued by gang violence. The latter now control 80% of the capital Port-au-Prince, and the number of serious crimes has reached record levels, according to the UN representative in the country.