MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Miami sentenced a retired Colombian military officer to life in prison Friday for his role in a plot to bomb the city of Miami. kill Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in 2021which has caused unprecedented unrest in the Caribbean nation.
Germán Alejandro Rivera García, 45, is the second of 11 suspects arrested and charged in Miami to be sentenced in what U.S. prosecutors have described as a conspiracy hatched in Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moïse, who was killed at his private home near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021.
Rivera, also known as “Colonel Mike,” pleaded guilty last September to conspiring and abetting a plot to kill the Haitian president. According to court documents, he was part of a convoy headed to Moïse’s residence on the day of the murder, after relaying information that the plan was not to kidnap the president but rather to kill him.
Rivera was facing the maximum sentence of up to life in prison and now hopes his sentence can be reduced in the future under a cooperation agreement he signed with U.S. authorities.
Sometimes, U.S. attorneys recommend that judges reduce a sentence if they believe the convicted person is helping their investigation.
Federal Judge José E. Martínez handed down the sentence during a hearing in Miami that lasted less than 30 minutes.
“Good luck to you, Mr. Rivera,” the judge said after agreeing to recommend that the Colombian remain in a federal prison in South Florida, as he had requested.
The conviction comes just months after the Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar was sentenced to life in prison In June, he was convicted for his role in Moïse’s assassination. Former Haitian senator John Joel Joseph is expected to be sentenced in December. Eight other defendants are awaiting trial in the United States next year.
Rivera entered the courtroom wearing a beige shirt and prison pants. He was handcuffed and had shackles on his ankles as he listened to the judge’s decision sitting next to his attorney.
The Colombian declined to make statements when the judge asked him if he had anything to say. “Not at this time, Your Honor,” Rivera replied.
According to the charges, Rivera, Jaar, Joseph and others, including about 20 Colombian citizens and several Haitian-American citizens, participated in the plot. The conspirators had initially planned to kidnap the Haitian president, before changing their plans to kill him. Investigators say the conspirators hoped to secure contracts under a successor to Moïse.
Moses was killed when attackers broke into his home. He was 53 years old.
Meanwhile, more than 40 suspects in the case remain in Haitian custody, languishing in prison more than two years after the assassination, while the new investigating judge continues his interrogations. Among those arrested after the murder are 18 former Colombian soldiers, who are currently in detention in Haiti.
The case gained renewed attention last week with the arrest by police of Joseph Félix Badio, a key suspect who worked in the justice ministry and the government’s anti-corruption unit. He was arrested in the capital Port-au-Prince after more than two years on the run.
Since the assassination, Haiti has seen a surge in gang violence that has led the prime minister to call for the deployment of an armed force. In early October, the UN Security Council voted to send a multinational force led by Kenya to help fight gangs.
Kenya has not announced a deployment date.
