Haitian gang leader charged with ordering kidnapping of US couple that left woman dead
Published:Tuesday | October 24, 2023 | 7:40 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful Haitian gang leader has been charged by United States prosecutors with ordering the kidnapping of an American couple from their home in Haiti, which left the woman dead, authorities said Tuesday.
Vitel'Homme Innocent — who remains at large and is believed to be living in Tabarre, Haiti — was also charged last year in the 2021 kidnappings of Christian missionaries.
The charges are considered largely symbolic in Haiti, where gangs are more powerful than the government and have bigger and better weapons than the police.
Gang leaders have previously brushed off United Nations sanctions and criminal charges filed by US federal authorities as they keep operating with impunity.
In the October 2022 kidnapping of Jean Franklin and Marie Odette Franklin, armed gang members stormed their homes, and Marie Franklin was shot and killed in the kidnapping.
Her husband, Jean, was held for 21 days and released following ransom payments made to the gang on behalf of his family, authorities said.
No US attorney has been listed for Innocent in court documents, and he could not otherwise be reached for comment on the allegations.
US authorities are offering a reward of $1 million for information leading to the arrest of Innocent, who runs the violent Kraze Barye gang that operates in Port-au-Prince.
“Vitel'Homme has wrecked particular havoc on US citizens abroad and the people of Haiti by consistently targeting innocent civilians for kidnappings and collaborating with other gangs within Haiti,” said US Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves.
He did not detail how Innocent might be brought to the US, where he could face the death penalty if convicted.
“Neither time nor distance will weaken our resolve,” said Jeffrey Veltri, special agent in charge of the FBI's Miami field office, which investigated the case.
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