Retired Colombian army officer gets life sentence in 2021 assassination of Haiti’s president
Published:Friday | October 27, 2023 | 2:48 PM
MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge in Miami on Friday sentenced a retired Colombian army officer to life in prison for his role in plotting to kill Haiti's President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, which caused unprecedented turmoil in the Caribbean nation.
Germán Alejandro Rivera García, 45, is the second of 11 suspects detained and charged in Miami to be sentenced in what United States prosecutors have described as a conspiracy hatched in both Haiti and Florida to hire mercenaries to kidnap or kill Moïse, who was slain at his private home near the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince on July 7, 2021.
Rivera, also known as “Colonel Mike,” had pleaded guilty in September to conspiring and supporting a plot to kill the Haitian president.
According to court documents, he was part of a convoy headed to Moïse's residence the day of the killing, after he relayed information that the plan was not to kidnap the president but rather kill him.
Rivera faced the maximum penalty of up to life imprisonment and now hopes that his sentence could be reduced in the future as part of a cooperation agreement he has signed with US authorities.
Sometimes US attorneys recommend judges to reduce a sentence if they determine that the convicted person helps with their investigation.
Federal Judge José E. Martínez handed down the sentence at a hearing in Miami that lasted less than 30 minutes.
“Good luck to you, Mr. Rivera,” the judge said after accepting to make a recommendation for the Colombian to remain at a South Florida federal prison, as he requested.
The sentencing came just months after Haitian-Chilean businessman Rodolphe Jaar was sentenced to life in prison in June for his role in Moïse's killing.
Meanwhile, former Haitian senator John Joel Joseph is set to be sentenced in December.
Eight more defendants are awaiting trial next year in the United States.
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