Overview
- Eighteen defendants flown from Haiti, including former justice ministry official Joseph Badio and 17 men described as Colombian mercenaries, appeared in federal court in Miami on Monday as prosecutions resumed.
- Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Florida pastor charged with plotting to replace Jovenel Moïse, is scheduled to go on trial next and has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts including conspiracy to kill or kidnap.
- The new indictment unsealed in late August alleges conspirators used South Florida companies and loans meant for pandemic relief to pay mercenaries and fund logistics for the July 7, 2021 attack.
- Haiti’s justice system struggled to hold trials because judges resigned and gangs seized courthouses, a breakdown that led Haitian officials to request outside help and to transfer suspects to U.S. custody.
- More than 40 people have been charged in the Miami cases and about a dozen have been convicted so far, including five serving life terms, as U.S. prosecutors target not only foot soldiers but alleged organizers and financiers.