© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A person holds a portrait of late Haitian President Jovenel Moise, who was shot dead earlier this month, during his funeral at his family home in Cap-Haitien, Haiti July 23, 2021. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduingo
By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Haitian and Chilean national was sentenced to life in prison on Friday after being convicted by a U.S. court in March of three counts related to his role in the 2021 assassination of then Haitian President Jovenel Moise, prosecutors said.
Rudolph Jarre was one of 11 defendants in the case, which includes businessmen accused of helping to obtain vehicles and firearms from Florida and former Colombian soldiers accused of killing Moyes in his bedroom, according to court documents.
Moise’s killing in July 2021 left a massive political vacuum in the Caribbean nation, emboldening powerful gangs with a population caught in the middle as large parts of the capital and much of the countryside become lawless.
Jaar signed a statement in March saying he had provided personnel and money to kidnap Moise, but that the initial plan later turned into a murder plot. Some of the money was used to buy weapons and pay bribes to the president’s security details, the statement said.
Jaar was sentenced on Friday by South Florida District Judge Jose Martinez.
Jaar met with the plotters the night before the assassination, according to the petition statement, at which time Haitian-American James Soulages stated that the goal was to kill Moise.
Court documents added that Jaar also met other defendants, including former Haitian Senator Joseph Joel John, Haitian American Joseph Vincent, former Colombian officer German Rivera, and Antonio Intriago, a Venezuelan owner of a private security company in Miami.
Jaar was also accused of helping a group of Colombians involved in the case hide from Haitian authorities, according to a statement issued by the US Department of Justice after his arrest last year.
Jaar was arrested in the neighboring Dominican Republic in early 2022.