Haitian-Chilean citizen sentenced to life in prison for assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise

By Rebekah Riess and Tina Burnside, CNN

(CNN) — A dual Haitian-Chilean citizen who pleaded guilty to federal charges related to his involvement in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise has been sentenced to life in prison, Florida court records show.

Judge Jose E. Martinez handed down the sentence to Rodolphe Jaar on Friday during a 10-minute hearing in Miami. The life sentences for each of three counts are to be served concurrently.

Jaar pleaded guilty in March to three counts – including conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support resulting in death, according to the plea agreement.

Moise, 53, was killed in his bedroom in Haiti on July 7, 2021.

Martinez recommended that Jaar be designated to a federal facility in or near South Florida given his background and the offenses, according to the court docket.

In exchange for the guilty plea, Jaar had agreed to be sentenced by a judge, provide truthful testimony, produce documents and records, and appear before a grand jury and at other legal proceedings when called upon by federal prosecutors.

CNN has reached out to Jaar’s attorney, Frank Schwartz, for comment.

Jaar was one of several suspects who were at large in the months after Moise’s assassination. He was arrested in the Dominican Republic and extradited to the United States in January 2022.

Authorities have said that dozens of people were involved in the assassination, including 26 Colombians and two Haitian Americans. Colombian suspect Mario Palacios also was extradited to the US in 2022.

Jaar provided funds used to acquire weapons, provided food and lodging to other co-conspirators, and provided funding to bribe Haitian officials responsible for Moise’s security, according to the plea agreement.

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