Four south Florida men convicted in Haitian president’s assassination

Four south Florida men were convicted on Friday of plotting to kill Haitian president Jovenel Moise in 2021 by hiring mercenaries to assassinate him at his Port-au-Prince home, court records show. Prosecutors argued during the nine-week trial in a Miami federal court that the men assembled two dozen former Colombian soldiers and supplied them with money, guns, ammunition and tactical vests in a conspiracy to kill Moise . The 53-year-old president was shot dead in July 2021 at his private residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince, a killing that left a gaping political vacuum in the Caribbean nation and emboldened powerful gangs. Standing trial were Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, 53, a former FBI informant, Colombian national and permanent US resident; Antonio Intriago, 62, a Venezuelan-American owner of a security firm; James Solages, 40, a Haitian-American handyman; and Walter Veintemilla, 57, an Ecuadorian American. They were convicted of multiple counts of conspiracy to kill and kidnap a person outside the US resulting in death – and of providing material support or resources to carry out a violation resulting in death. All four men face life in prison. A fifth defendant, Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-born doctor – who court papers say wanted to be named president after Moise was killed – will be tried later due to health issues. …