The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged alleged Haitian gang leader Vitel’homme Innocent with ordering the 2022 kidnapping of an American husband and wife, which resulted in the wife’s death.
Mr. Innocent is accused of ordering the Oct. 7, 2022, kidnapping of Jean Franklin and Marie Odette Franklin, two U.S. citizens who lived in Haiti at the time. Armed gang members forced their way into the couple’s home to take them hostage by force, but during the attack one of the gang members shot and killed Marie Odette Franklin. The gang members still proceeded to take the husband hostage and held him for another three weeks, extracting a ransom payment from his family before setting him free on Oct. 28, 2022.
Prosecutors allege Mr. Innocent traveled to the American couple’s home in the days leading up to the kidnapping and thereafter participated in three separate efforts to negotiate the ransom payment for Mr. Franklin’s release.
The charges against Mr. Innocent, which come through the U.S. District Court for Washington D.C., include conspiracy to commit hostage-taking resulting in death, hostage-taking, and attempted hostage-taking resulting in death. If convicted, Mr. Innocent faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and could also face the death penalty.
Mr. Innocent remains at large in Haiti. The DOJ has offered up to $1 million for information leading to his capture.
Gang Leader Helped Kidnap Missionary Group in 2021: DOJ
Last year, the DOJ charged Mr. Innocent in connection with the Oct. 16, 2021, kidnapping of 17 Christian missionaries, including 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian national. The missionary group included five children.Prosecutors alleged Mr. Innocent assisted another Haitian criminal organization, known as the 400 Mawozo gang, which led the effort to kidnap the missionary group. The DOJ named 400 Mawozo gang leaders Lanmo Sanjou and Jermaine Stephenson in last year’s indictment. All three gang leaders were at large at the time of the 2022 indictment and the DOJ was offering rewards of up to $1 million for the capture of any of the three defendants.
Rising Danger in Haiti
Kidnappings and killings are continuing to rise in Haiti. From July 1 to Sept. 30, more than 700 people in Haiti were reported kidnapped, a 244 percent increase compared with the same period last year, according to the United Nations.Criminal gangs are reportedly continuing to grow in power and are estimated to control up to 80 percent of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.