Ex-Federal Informant Gets Life in Prison for Role in Haitian President’s Murder

A person holds a photo of late Haitian President Jovenel Moise during his memorial ceremony at the National Pantheon Museum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on July 20, 2021. Matias Delacroix/AP Photo

A former U.S. government informant was sentenced to life in prison by a court in Miami on Feb. 9 over his involvement in the assassination of former Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021.

Joseph Vincent, a Haitian-American national who worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, is among 11 defendants accused in the Miami federal case of involvement in the slaying at Mr. Moise’s residence. He is the fourth of the defendants to be sentenced to life in prison.

Another defendant, Frederick Joseph Bergmann Jr., pleaded guilty on the same day to submitting false or misleading export information.

Mr. Vincent pleaded guilty in December to aiding the plot by offering advice about Haitian politics and arranging meetings with local community leaders.

According to a court document, Mr. Vincent allegedly donned a U.S. State Department pin during those meetings in an attempt to make people believe that he worked for the U.S. government.

He traveled to Haiti early in 2021 to back Florida-based pastor and co-defendant Christian Sanon’s bid to replace Moise, according to the filing, and on the night of the attack was a passenger in a vehicle driven by another co-defendant to the president’s home.

The late president of Haiti, Jovenel Moise (R), arrives with first lady Martine Moise (L) for the official ceremony of Haiti's 10th earthquake anniversary in Port-au-Prince, on Jan. 12, 2020. Chandan Khann/AFP via Getty Images

Moise, 53, was shot dead at his home near the capital of Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021. His wife Martine Moise, who was also at home at the time of the attack, was left in critical condition.

The incident came amid growing political instability in Haiti and increased calls for Moise, who entered office in 2017, to resign amid accusations of corruption and his management of the economy.

In December last year, a federal judge in Miami sentenced former Haitian senator John Joel Joseph to life in prison for conspiring to kill Moise.

Rise in Haiti’s Crime Rates

Haiti has been grappling with a severe political, humanitarian, and security crisis for years. The Caribbean country hasn’t had a president since Mr. Moise’s assassination.

The United Nations has called on the international community to accelerate the deployment of a multinational security support mission to Haiti amid a surge in killings and kidnappings in the country.

More than 8,400 people were killed, injured, or kidnapped in Haiti last year, a 122 percent rise from 2022, the United Nations Integrated Office (also known as BINUH) said in a report released on Feb. 2.

According to the report, about 80 percent of these incidents were reported in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, where criminal groups have been marking their territorial expansion through large-scale attacks.

“Persistent gang violence in the capital and Artibonite department, and the failure of state authorities to protect the population, continued to fuel mass lynchings and murders perpetrated by ‘vigilante groups.’

“Between October and December, these groups shot, stoned, or killed with machetes at least 76 people accused of committing common crimes or supporting gangs,” the report reads.

BINUH also stated that 693 people were kidnapped from October to December 2023, an 18 percent increase compared to the previous quarter.

Katabella Roberts and Reuters contributed to this report.