Haiti Sends 18 Suspects in President’s 2021 Killing to U.S. for Trial

Eighteen suspects in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise were flown from Port-au-Prince to Florida on a military flight on Sunday to face federal charges, Al Jazeera reported; CBS News, in an earlier report that day, described them as awaiting extradition. Prosecutors called it the next major phase of a case that has so far produced convictions in a Miami courtroom. They will be tried in federal court in Florida, according to Al Jazeera and CBS News.

The investigation is led by U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quinones of the Southern District of Florida, a Trump appointee, Al Jazeera reported. “Today marks the next major phase in our pursuit of accountability for the assassination of President Jovenel Moise,” he wrote on X, according to CBS News. He said prosecutors will go after those who financed, facilitated or supported the plot, and, as Al Jazeera quoted him, “we are not finished.” FBI Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles confirmed that multiple arrests were made in the United States and abroad on Sunday. Neither outlet named the 18 suspects.

Why Florida? Prosecutors say the plot was primarily engineered, financed and staged from southern Florida, which is why jurisdiction lies there, Al Jazeera reported. CBS News said Mr. Quinones put the number of people indicted in the killing at 30.

The case has already produced results. In May, a Florida jury convicted four men whom prosecutors described as among the plot’s masterminds, on charges including conspiring to kill or kidnap Haiti’s elected leader and providing material support for the plot, according to CBS News. At least five others pleaded guilty and are serving life sentences, both outlets reported. More than a dozen Colombian soldiers and a former Haitian government official remain in Haiti awaiting trial there, they added.

Mr. Moise, 53, was shot dead at his private residence in July 2021, and his wife, Martine Moise, was critically wounded, Al Jazeera reported. She testified in Miami federal court in March and accused former Haitian President Michel Martelly and former Prime Minister Ariel Henry of connections to the killing, CBS News reported. A Haitian judge indicted her in 2024 on complicity and criminal association charges, and her attorney called those charges “ridiculous and unjust,” the outlet said. The allegations have not been proven in court.

The killing left Haiti without an elected national leader, and no national elections have been held since, Al Jazeera reported. Armed gangs have expanded their reach and reportedly control about 90% of Port-au-Prince; the United Nations documented at least 8,100 gang killings in 2025, and insecurity has displaced about 1.5 million people, according to the outlet. A fair trial in Haiti has become nearly impossible because of the security collapse and corruption in the judicial system, Al Jazeera said.

Not everyone welcomed the transfer. Human rights activist Pierre Esperance called it a “disgrace for the Haitian justice system” and urged reforms so such cases can be tried in Haiti, Al Jazeera reported. The suspects are presumed innocent unless convicted.