Nearly five years after Haiti’s president was killed inside his home, a U.S. federal trial has produced four additional convictions. Martine Moïse, who survived the attack, became one of the prosecution’s most important witnesses.
MIAMI — Nearly five years after Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated inside his private residence, the U.S. investigation into the killing has reached one of its most consequential milestones.
A federal jury in Miami on May 8, 2026, convicted Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and James Solages for their roles in the conspiracy that culminated in Moïse’s assassination on July 7, 2021. The verdict followed a lengthy federal trial examining how a plot developed partly in South Florida ultimately resulted in armed mercenaries storming the Haitian president’s residence. At the center of the proceedings was Martine Moïse, the former first lady and widow of the slain president, who survived the attack after being seriously wounded. Her testimony gave jurors a firsthand account of the final moments of her husband’s life and the violence that unfolded inside their home.
Martine Moïse Takes the Stand
Martine Moïse was among the most closely watched witnesses during the trial. She described waking to intense gunfire shortly after 1 a.m. on July 7, 2021, and trying to protect herself and the couple’s children as armed men entered the residence. According to her testimony, Jovenel Moïse realized the severity of the situation as the attack unfolded. Martine testified that she eventually returned toward her husband before armed men entered their bedroom. She told jurors that she was shot and remained still, pretending to be dead while the attackers searched the room. She recalled hearing men speaking Spanish before her husband was fatally shot. Her testimony brought an intensely personal dimension to a case that has often been discussed in terms of mercenaries, financing, political ambitions, and international conspiracies.
Forensic Evidence Connected the Attack to the Mercenary Team
The trial also presented significant forensic and digital evidence. According to the U.S. Justice Department, ballistic evidence showed that bullets recovered during Jovenel Moïse’s autopsy and another bullet removed from Martine Moïse during surgery were connected to a rifle carried and used by members of the Colombian team that entered the presidential residence. Prosecutors also presented extensive electronic communications that they said demonstrated months of discussions and planning surrounding efforts to remove Moïse from power. Those findings helped move the case beyond the question of who physically entered the residence toward the larger issue of who organized, financed, and supported the operation.
Prosecutors Say the Plot Changed Over Time
One of the most important revelations from the federal case is that prosecutors say the conspiracy did not begin simply as an assassination plan. According to the Justice Department, the defendants and their associates considered multiple schemes between April and July 2021. At one stage, conspirators discussed kidnapping Moïse at his sister’s residence, drugging him and forcing him to resign. Another plan involved abducting him after he returned from an international trip in June 2021.
Those plans failed or were abandoned. Prosecutors said the operation eventually shifted toward an armed assault on Moïse’s residence, with weapons and ammunition obtained in Haiti for Colombian mercenaries. That evolution is important because it demonstrates that the assassination was not presented to jurors as a spontaneous act. The government described a conspiracy that developed over months and changed as earlier efforts to remove the president failed.
Four Defendants Convicted
After nearly nine weeks of proceedings and 39 days of testimony, the jury convicted the four defendants. Pretel Ortiz, Intriago, Veintemilla, and Solages were found guilty of offenses including conspiracy to kill or kidnap outside the United States and providing material support for a conspiracy resulting in death. Intriago was additionally convicted on charges involving smuggling and false or misleading export information. Importantly, prosecutors did not contend that these four men were necessarily the individuals who personally fired the fatal shots. Their criminal liability centered on their participation in the broader conspiracy that led to Moïse’s killing. Defense lawyers disputed the government’s case, and at least one attorney indicated after the verdict that an appeal would be pursued.
South Florida Was Central to the Conspiracy
The location of the trial in Miami was not incidental. U.S. investigators have described South Florida as an important hub for planning and financing efforts to remove Moïse from power. The Justice Department previously said that conspirators operating there helped arrange resources connected to the plot. That U.S. connection ultimately allowed federal prosecutors to pursue participants even though the assassination itself occurred in Haiti. Eight co-conspirators had already pleaded guilty before the 2026 trial, and six of them testified during the proceedings, according to the Justice Department. The federal case has therefore produced considerably more judicial movement than the parallel investigation in Haiti.
Another Defendant Still Awaits Trial
The Miami proceedings are not finished. Christian Sanon, who had initially been scheduled to stand trial with the four defendants, had his case separated because of medical issues. His case is expected to proceed separately. That means additional evidence concerning the wider conspiracy could still emerge in federal court. Meanwhile, another financial thread connected to the case produced a significant sentence in July. Federal prosecutors announced that Keegan Harricharan, described as a fundraiser and financier connected to the assassination plot, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy involving fraudulently obtained pandemic-relief funds.
Martine Moïse’s Earlier Demand for Transparency
Long before the 2026 verdict, Martine Moïse had publicly demanded greater transparency surrounding her husband’s killing. She had called for U.S. information related to the assassination to be made public, arguing that Haitians deserved a fuller understanding of the forces behind the operation. The Miami trial has now provided considerably more information about the mechanics of the conspiracy than was publicly established in the immediate aftermath of the assassination. But it has not necessarily answered every question Haitians have been asking since 2021. The federal case established criminal responsibility for specific defendants. That is different from providing a complete political history of the assassination or proving every allegation that has circulated around it.
Who Ultimately Wanted Jovenel Moïse Removed?
This remains the larger question. The Miami prosecution established that individuals conspired to remove Moïse, that multiple kidnapping scenarios were discussed, that the operation evolved, and that armed mercenaries ultimately attacked the president’s residence.
But criminal convictions do not automatically settle every question about the political and financial interests surrounding the plot. Who stood to gain from Moïse’s removal? How extensive was the network beyond those prosecuted in the United States? Were additional political or business interests involved? And why did the Haitian president’s security system fail so catastrophically on the night he was killed?
Those questions continue to fuel public debate in Haiti. They should also be distinguished from proven facts. Allegations involving people who have not been convicted must remain allegations unless supported by evidence and judicial findings.
A Trial With Enormous Significance for Haiti
The Miami verdict represents one of the clearest measures of legal accountability achieved since Jovenel Moïse was killed. For Haiti, however, the assassination was never simply the murder of one man. Moïse’s death accelerated an already severe institutional crisis. Haiti subsequently entered a prolonged period without an elected president, while armed groups expanded their territorial control and the country’s political institutions deteriorated. Five years later, Haiti is still dealing with those consequences. That gives the Miami case significance far beyond the sentences ultimately imposed on individual defendants.
Justice Has Advanced, but the Story Is Not Over
For Martine Moïse, the proceedings were also deeply personal. She entered the Miami courtroom not simply as a former first lady, but as a survivor of the same attack that killed her husband. Her testimony allowed jurors to hear directly from someone who was inside the bedroom when Haiti’s president was assassinated. The convictions represent a major advancement in the search for accountability. Yet they do not necessarily close one of the darkest chapters in modern Haitian history.
The United States has now convicted multiple people for participating in the conspiracy. Additional proceedings remain possible, and Haiti’s own judicial process continues to carry enormous importance. The central challenge going forward will be separating what has been proven in court from the many theories that have surrounded the assassination since 2021. Nearly five years after gunmen entered the presidential residence, Haiti knows substantially more about how the operation was organized. But for many Haitians, the ultimate demand remains unchanged:
Who conceived the full plot, who benefited from it, and has everyone responsible truly been identified? Until those questions are convincingly answered, the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse will remain not only a criminal case but an unresolved chapter in Haiti’s political history.
The Haitian Tribune | Haiti & U.S. News
