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U.S. prosecutors allege that a network planned from South Florida to remove Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and install a successor they expected to serve their political and financial interests. Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Haitian-American pastor living in Florida, was initially considered for the presidency, but prosecutors say the plot’s backers later shifted to another candidate and their plans evolved from kidnapping or removing Moïse to killing him. Moïse was assassinated at his home on July 7, 2021. Sanon’s trial was reported as beginning in Miami on September 28, 2026; he has pleaded not guilty, and no verdict was reported in the accounts available at that date.
What prosecutors allege happened
The case is not simply an account of one pastor hiring a group of mercenaries to take over a country. Prosecutors describe a changing network involving political aspirants, security-company operators, a financier, Colombian former soldiers and Haitian allies. Their account is that South Florida became a planning and financing hub for an effort to remove Moïse and install a government more favorable to the participants’ interests.
The title’s phrase “hired mercenaries” compresses several alleged roles and stages. Some Colombians were reportedly recruited for security work around Sanon; prosecutors later described former Colombian soldiers among the allies recruited for the wider scheme. The alleged objective also changed: plans to seize or kidnap Moïse gave way to assassination, according to the Justice Department’s accounts. The plot did not result in a successful seizure of Haiti’s government; Moïse was killed.
How the alleged plan developed
South Florida planning and the proposed government
In its 2023 indictment-era account, the Justice Department said participants met in South Florida in April 2021, including Sanon, security-company principals, a former Haitian senator and others. Prosecutors alleged that the contemplated arrangement included a Sanon-led government awarding contracts to CTU for infrastructure, security and military-type equipment. Those were allegations about a proposed political and business arrangement, not findings that every person named took part in every element.
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Sanon was initially presented as a potential successor to Moïse. The Justice Department’s 2023 account says the group concluded by June that he lacked constitutional qualifications or sufficient popular support, then shifted its backing to a former Haitian Supreme Court judge. That account makes an important distinction: Sanon was an early prospective replacement, not necessarily the final candidate the conspirators intended to install.
Financing and recruitment
The Justice Department’s 2023 account alleged that Walter Veintemilla, principal of Worldwide Capital Lending Group, extended CTU a $175,000 line of credit and sent money to co-conspirators in Haiti for ammunition. In its 2026 account of evidence at the trial of four other defendants, the department described a $175,000 loan agreement financed with proceeds from other people’s Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds. The two descriptions come from different stages of the case: the first is an indictment-era allegation, while the second is DOJ’s account of evidence presented at trial.
The reported recruitment figures refer to different descriptions and should not be treated as one settled headcount. The 2023 indictment-era account said CTU retained about 20 Colombian nationals with military training to provide Sanon security. DOJ’s 2026 account of trial evidence said the four defendants recruited allies in the United States, Colombia and Haiti, including 22 former Colombian Army soldiers and Haitian gang leaders. The figures concern different accounts and contexts.
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From removal to assassination
DOJ’s 2023 account says an unsuccessful effort to seize Moïse and take him abroad preceded a shift from forcibly removing him to assassinating him. Its 2026 account of evidence at the four-defendant trial describes multiple kidnapping or killing plans developed between April and July. The department summarized that evidence this way: “Between April and July 2021, the defendants developed and refined multiple plans to kidnap or kill President Moïse.” That statement concerns the trial of those four defendants; it is not a jury finding about Sanon’s separate case.
On July 7, 2021, according to DOJ’s account of the trial evidence, Solages and Colombian mercenaries attacked Moïse’s residence with Haitian allies. Moïse was killed, and First Lady Martine Moïse was seriously wounded. DOJ said the trial evidence included ballistic comparisons and digital communications.
Who was alleged to do what—and what happened in court
| Person or group | Role described by prosecutors | Procedural status reported by the sources |
|---|---|---|
| Christian Emmanuel Sanon | Florida-based Haitian-American pastor and political aspirant, initially considered as a successor to Moïse. | AP and Reuters reported on September 28, 2026, that his Miami trial was beginning. He pleaded not guilty. The reports do not establish a verdict. |
| Arcangel Pretel Ortiz | CTU-related security-business principal; DOJ’s trial account described him as directing tactical planning. | One of four defendants DOJ said were convicted in 2026. |
| Antonio Intriago | CTU-related security-business principal; DOJ’s trial account described him as handling logistics, payroll and equipment. | One of the four defendants DOJ said were convicted in 2026. |
| Walter Veintemilla | Worldwide Capital Lending Group principal linked by prosecutors to financing. | One of the four defendants DOJ said were convicted in 2026. |
| James Solages | CTU representative and liaison in Haiti, according to DOJ’s account of trial evidence. | One of the four defendants DOJ said were convicted in 2026. |
| Other named defendants and alleged allies | The alleged network included Haitian allies and Colombian former soldiers; DOJ’s September 2026 announcement concerned a further group of defendants. | DOJ said 18 defendants had been transported from Haiti to Miami to face newly unsealed charges in a prosecution group of 30 indicted defendants. Those charged are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. |
The outcomes in the table are not interchangeable. The four 2026 convictions concern Pretel Ortiz, Intriago, Veintemilla and Solages—not Sanon. DOJ’s September 21, 2026 announcement concerned newly unsealed charges against another group, not the total number of people charged across every related proceeding.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Sanon’s case remains separate and unresolved
As of reports published September 28, 2026, Sanon’s trial was beginning in Miami. The Associated Press described eight charges connected to the assassination; Reuters described conspiracy charges and said he could face a possible life sentence if convicted. Neither report establishes the trial’s outcome. Sanon pleaded not guilty.
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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Sanon’s lawyers deny that he knew about a plan to kill Moïse. Reuters reported that the defense was expected to argue he had been sidelined as the conspirators turned to other candidates and that he did not know of the murder plan. These are defense positions, not findings about what Sanon knew.
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There has also been a dispute over the reliability and interpretation of the investigation in the earlier trial. The Associated Press reported that defense attorneys for the four defendants argued the Haitian investigation was unreliable and that their clients had been manipulated into taking blame for an internal coup. That account describes the defense argument; it does not resolve it.
Why the allegations need careful wording
The case involves distinct people, proceedings and kinds of evidence. An indictment alleges conduct; it is not proof of guilt. DOJ’s 2026 release about the four-defendant trial describes evidence presented there and reports convictions, while the charges against Sanon and the additional defendants are separate matters. The Justice Department states that defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
South Florida’s alleged role was more than a geographic detail: prosecutors say it was where planning and financing took place, while recruitment and operations involved people in Haiti and Colombia as well. But the public accounts support describing a transnational alleged conspiracy, not attributing every act or purpose to each person in it.
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