MIAMI, United States: A Miami court on Friday sentenced a former Colombian army officer to life in prison for his role in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Juvenal Moise.
Mario Antonio Palacios, 45, pleaded guilty in federal court late last year.
Before that, he denied for months any involvement in the July 7, 2021 attack, in which Moise was killed by more than 20 soldiers, most of them Colombian mercenaries, at his private residence.
According to the indictment, Palacios and other mercenaries entered the presidential palace and stole money and jewelry.
The US Department of Justice has ruled that the case in which 11 people were arrested and charged as part of an assassination plot in South Florida is under its jurisdiction.
So far, three others have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Joseph Joel John, former senator of Haiti; Rudolph Jarre is a Haitian and Chilean businessman and another retired Colombian soldier.
Last month, a judge in Haiti indicted dozens of people, including Moise’s widow, the former prime minister and a former police chief, for their involvement in Moise’s assassination, according to court documents.
Moise’s death plunged Haiti into further turmoil. The Caribbean nation used to be prey to gang violence, but gangs have recently taken control of much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and serious crime has reached record levels.
