Defendants Transported to Florida for Charges of Killing Foreign President

18 defendants were transported to South Florida to face charges of killing a foreign president.




The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida announced the successful transport of 18 defendants to Miami from Haiti to face newly unsealed federal charges related to the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse on July 7, 2021.

The special operation involved members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) elite Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), FBI Miami case agents and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents aboard a military aircraft equipped to handle possible armed gang attacks from around the Port-au-Prince airport in the Haitian capital.

These 18 individuals are among a group of 30 defendants that a Southern District of Florida grand jury indicted for their various roles in the plot to kill the President of Haiti. The charges include an intertwined fraud and money laundering scheme that relied on funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) COVID-19 relief program to finance the assassination plot.

“Today marks the next major phase in our pursuit of accountability for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Our work did not end with the men who planned and carried out this assassination. We will follow the evidence wherever it leads, to those who financed it, facilitated it, supported it, or committed crimes to make it possible. Five years later, we are still bringing defendants before American courts, and we are not finished.”

“In July 2021, President Jovenel Moise was assassinated by individuals seeking to profit from illicit financial opportunities and business contracts,” said Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office. “Today’s multi-location and international arrests underscore the FBI’s continued commitment to bringing all participants in this plot to justice. FBI Miami, along with our domestic and international partners, remains steadfast in ensuring that all individuals who allegedly sought to profit from the assassination of a head of state are held fully accountable.”

“Homeland Security Investigations is uniquely positioned to investigate complex crimes that cross borders, exploit financial systems, and threaten the security of the United States and the international community,” said Jose R. Figueroa, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Miami. “The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse was a horrific attack, and we remain fully committed to working shoulder to shoulder with our partners to further expose the criminal network behind it, identify every individual who played a role, and ensure that the last person responsible is brought to justice.”

According to recently unsealed court documents, at least 22 newly named defendants directly participated in a coordinated multinational conspiracy involving financing, recruitment, and logistical support to carry out the attack on July 7, 2021.

The following defendants were charged with offenses arising from the alleged conspiracy to kill or kidnap President Moïse:

• Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a/k/a “Kumbe,” a/k/a “Pumba,” a/k/a “Bubba,” a/k/a “Mr. President,” a/k/a “P”
• Byron Sherrod Rainer, a/k/a “B. Ellis Rains,” a/k/a “Byron Rain,” a/k/a “Byron Ellis”
• Joseph Felix Badio, a/k/a “Cousin”
• Vitel’Homme Innocent
• Carlos Giovanni Guerrero Torres, a/k/a “Don Francisco”
• Victor Albeiro Pineda Cardona, a/k/a “Pipe”
• Juan Carlos Yepes Clavijo, a/k/a “Woker”
• Naiser Franco Castaneda, a/k/a “Esneider”
• Angel Mario Yarce Sierra
• Jheyner Alberto Carmona Flores, a/k/a “Joseph”
• Edwin Enrique Blanquicet Rodriguez, a/k/a “Daniel”
• Manuel Antonio Grosso Guarin, a/k/a “Mauricio”
• Jhon Jairo Ramirez Gomez, a/k/a “Danny”
• Francisco Eladio Uribe Ochoa, a/k/a “Cristian”
• Alejandro Giraldo Zapata, a/k/a “Alexander”
• Neil Caceres Duran, a/k/a “Anderson”
• Jhon Jader Andela
• Enalber Vargas Gomez, a/k/a “Victor”
• John Jairo Suarez Alegria, a/k/a “Angel”
• Gersain Mendivelso Jaimes
• Alex Miyer Peña, a/k/a “Holman”
• Samir Handal
• Ashkard Pierre

The following defendants were charged with offenses arising from the alleged PPP-EIDL fraud and money laundering scheme:

• Byron Sherrod Rainer, a/k/a “B. Ellis Rains,” a/k/a “Byron Rain,” a/k/a “Byron Ellis,”
• Jameela Ammara Simmons
• Marcel Williamson
• Travis Barrett Nave

If convicted, certain defendants face a statutory maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Any sentence will be determined by a federal district judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to the indictment, members of the conspiracy coordinated funding for weapons, traveled to and from Haiti during planning phases, and used encrypted communications to organize the operation. Several defendants allegedly provided material support knowing the conspiracy would result in a violent attack that led to the president’s death.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of HSI Miami made the announcement. FBI Miami and HSI Miami are investigating the case, with assistance from Haitian law enforcement and international partners. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean T. McLaughlin, Jason Wu, and Altanese Phenelus are prosecuting the case.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Miami comprises agents and officers from FBI Miami and HSI Miami.

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