MIAMI, Dec 22, 2023 (AFP) – A former Colombian soldier pleaded guilty Friday in a US federal court to conspiracy to assassinate Haitian President Jovenel Moise, who was shot dead in 2021 in Port-au-Prince.
Mario Antonio Palacios, 45, pleaded guilty in a Miami federal court after entering into a cooperation agreement with prosecutors.
Until agreeing to a plea deal, he had for months denied having had any role in the assassination of the former president.
On July 7, 2021, Moise was shot and killed in his private residence at the age of 53 by a commando of more than 20 people, most of them Colombian mercenaries, as his guards failed to intervene.
According to the indictment, Palacios entered the president’s house with the mercenaries and stole money and jewelry.
The prosecution, however, said he only played a minor role in the conspiracy and that he had no decision-making power within the group.
His lawyer, Alfredo Izaguirre, presented Palacios as a simple bodyguard and said he was sure that his client could avoid the maximum sentence of life behind bars.
The sentence will be handed down on March 1.
The US justice department has ruled that the case — in which 11 people were arrested and charged — falls within its jurisdiction because part of the assassination plot was hatched in south Florida.
So far, three people have been sentenced to life imprisonment in the case: former Haitian senator Joseph Joel John; a businessman of Haitian and Chilean nationality, Rodolphe Jaar; and another retired Colombian soldier.
The operation initially aimed to kidnap the president but evolved into a full-fledged assassination, according to court documents.
Moise’s death plunged Haiti deeper into chaos. The Caribbean state was already prey to gang violence, but these days gangs control 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince, and the number of serious crimes has reached record levels, according to the UN representative in the country.
