Omega Staff writer
Omegaworldnews.com
GUY PHILIPPE: HAITIAN SENATOR-ELECT TO PLEAD GUILTY TO DRUG TRAFFICKING
Haitian Senator-elect Guy Philippe from the Gande-Anse part of Haiti is reportedly prepared to plead guilty to drug trafficking. The Senator was arrested in Haiti earlier this year by agents of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) while coming out of a radio interview in Port-au-Prince.
Mr. Philippe who was elected senator did not have time to take office. He was arrested before he could be sworn in as senator. He was brought to Florida and indicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. His arrest came as a result of several other participants who were arrested between 2008 and 2012, some of whom are currently serving time
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in Federal prison ranging from 10 to 20 years in prison. Mr. Philippe began his military career just before President Aristide came to power in 1989. He was one of seventeen Haitian officers who were sent to Quito, Equator for military training. While in Quito, according to cooperating witnesses, Mr. Philippe made contacts and developed relationships with several drug lords from Columbia. Upon his return in Haiti, he made additional contacts with several Columbians drug dealers' representatives who moved to Haiti to oversee the drug shipment business. For many years, Mr. Philippe and several Haitian businessmen and current members of the Haitian parliament conspired with other indicted and non-indicted co-conspirators to distribute hundred of thousands of kilo of cocaine from Haiti to Miami and other cities around the United States. According to the indictment, drug shipments from Columbia would land in remote parts of Haiti where they could be received undetected or without much interference. According to his co-conspirators, these shipments usually about a thousand kilos per shipment would be housed in several locations in Haiti including the Caribbean Market in Port-Au-Prince. Thousands kilos of Cocaine from Haiti would arrive in Florida or New York via American Airlines in other carriers. Sometimes, the cocaine would be shipped using vessels owned and operated by Haitian businessmen. The money in the form of millions of dollars in cash would be sent the same way back to Haiti. Once the money arrived in Haiti, Haitian businessmen would then served as money launderers for a 20% profit to bring the money into the Haitian banking system and then to Columbia. Since the early 1980's Haiti had become the preferred drug destinations for many Columbian cartels. The administration of Jean Bertrand Aristide had seen a serious increased of drug trafficking from Haiti to the United states. This increased caused the DEA to start paying attention to the players leading to the arrest and convictions of several people who were very closed to President Aristide. One of these people is Jacques Ketan, who was sentenced to thirty years in prison. He finally made a deal with the US government that led to his early release. Mr. Philippe was one of several people who were indicted some ten years ago. However, before he could be arrested the CIA intervened because not only because he was on its payroll but Mr. Philippe was used to destabilize the Aristide administration leading to his forced exile in South Africa. Once, Philippe was no longer of need to the CIA, the agency cleared the path for his arrest for conspiracy. However, Mr. Philippe proved to be a very elusive target, hiding in the countryside where road access is non existent. In 2015, Mr. Philippe decided to run for the Senate, with the hope that his election would provide him with immunity, however, the DEA was ten steps ahead of him. Before he could enter parliament, he was arrested. After his arrest, his lawyers argued without much success argued that he was seized in violation of international laws and his status as the senator elect protected from prosecution. Unfortunately, the Federal Judge in Florida disagreed with his assessment and denied their motion. As the US government prepared his case for trial against Philippe, he was forced to consider the strength of the government case against him and the possibility of life in prison should he get convicted. And convicted he would, conspiracy requires very little to prove. The news that Mr.
Philippe is prepared to plead is not unusual, in most drug cases the defendant would plea and cooperate in other to avoid a long sentence. Given the amount of drugs involved and Mr. Philippe's position and responsibility in the criminal enterprise, it is entirely possible that he could spend the rest of his life in a federal prison. Cooperation would brought him a lot. If he is cooperates and tell the government about those who were involved in the conspiracy and the extent of the conspiracy, he would be able to shave off several decades of his sentence.
However, according to sources in Port-Au-Prince, many Haitian businessmen are nervous, and seeking the advise of counsel. Mr. Philippe has a portfolio full of Haitian businessmen who for the better part of a decade had laundered money for him and the criminal enterprise. Those Haitian businessmen are still in Haiti, and operating. Some of them are in the Haitian senate others are inside the Haitian National Palace. The question is, who is next to be arrested in Haiti is a mystery that Omeganews would seek to uncover. Stay tune for more information about pending arrest of Haitian businessmen and
politicians.
Katz, William L. Toussaint L’Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution by William Loren Katz. HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
Not long after Dianne Lavigne’s murder on June 26th 1997, the perpetrators began to receive the penalties of their actions. Stephane Gagne, who was a shooter in both murders, was arrested on December 5th 1997. He pleaded guilty to Dianne’s murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He cut a deal with the prosecution where he received 140$ a month for privileges in prison and 400$ a month for his son. In exchange, he agreed to be the main witness for the first-degree murder trail against “Mom” Boucher for both murders in 2002 . Tousignant, who was the second shooter in the murder, was told by Boucher to lay low. Instead, he got involved in a drunken argument at a saloon that raised concerns of him being a loose cannon. Boucher took precautions to ensure that he would not be another snitch used in his trial and on December 6th of 1997 called “Touts” in. He was later found February 7th 1998 near Bromont fingerless and scorched with several bullet wounds . Boucher was first tried in 1998 for masterminding the assassinations a...
The “NATIONAL BRIEFING; COLORADO” stated he could face 97 ½ years in prison if he was convicted of all charges he was facing at this point. Concluding, that Brucos’ charges were immense because of the crime he
Let us get back to our course now. Haiti is a democracy, "illiberal democracy" to be precise. After the departure of Duvalier, "Baby Doc" Jean-Claude , Haitian amended their constitution to make the presidential election be held every five years, allowing presidents to serve five-year long non-renewable terms [3]. Presidents are eligible for reelection after their mandate and their successor's mandates have passed. Haitian legislators naively
Mr. Moreno was charged in district court with various drug offenses and with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He entered a guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute more than fifty grams of a substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person
Casimir, J, & Claypool, M 2012, ‘Going Backwards Toward the Future: From Haiti to Saint-Domingue,’ The Global South, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 172-192.
Knight, Franklin W., “The Haitian Revolution”. The American Historical Review 105.1 (2000): 29 pars. 9. Web. Apr. 2011
“the Haitian Revolution forever transformed the world. It was a central part of the destruction of slavery in the Americas, and therefore a crucial moment in the history of democracy, one that laid the foundation for the continuing struggles for human rights everywhere. In this sense we are all descendants of the Haitian Revolution, and responsible to these ancestors.” (Dubois,
... exiled with the help of US intervention. After Duvalier was exiled, Haiti formed a more stable government and elected new presidents (Abbott, 1988).
Several of the problems that Haiti faces today have their genesis in the country’s colonial history. The country was like a toy being fought over by spoiled children. The first of these children arrived in the early sixteenth century in the form of Spanish settlers in search of gold. They enslaved the native Taino population and, poisoned by avarice, nearly eradicated the indigenous work force. Thousands of African slaves were brought in to take their place. Eventually, the Spanish left the island to grab their share of newly discovered treasure in other lands. Tiring of their toy, the Spanish
Haiti was once an economic power when France held claim to the Eastern Part of Hispaniola, then named St. Domingue. It was a French colony flourishing with coffee and sugar. Eventually the ideals of the French Revolution - Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity - made its way to the colonies resulting in a revolution. Haiti was the first slave-led revolution and declared its independence as a republic on January 1, 1804. After their declaration of independence, things started to make a turn for the worst. In 1934 the U.S. forces occupied Haiti to establish stability. The U.S. appointed heads of state but the real power was present in the U.S. occupiers, whereas the heads of state are just figureheads. Haiti’s economy dwindled further down when France demanded reparations of 150 million francs, which wasn’t paid off until 1947. In 65 years, Haiti had 22 heads of state.” In 1957 Francois Duvalier is elected president. He later “creates a totalitarian dictatorship and in 1964 declares himself president-for-life.” This is where Haiti’s political instability really begins.
The Haitian Revolution is widely considered as the significant event in Africans’ history in the new world. Indeed, the reduction of the Atlantic slave trade is conventionally accredited to the inception of Haitian Revolution. While it might have failed to inspire immediate revolutions within the Caribbean and eventually the world, the Haitian Revolution had a profound effect on the French Revolution as a case for many national emancipation movements. It is evident that the French Revolution determined the success of Haitian Revolution through the custom of racial hierarchy and subjugation in Haiti and through the spread of French Revolution’s ideals. These factors compelled the elite planters to either surrender some control or risk being subjected to violent rebellion.
The Complete Haitiana: A Bibliographic Guide to the Scholarly Literature, 1900-1980. Millwood, New York: Kraus International Publications, 1982.
Fatton Jr. , Robbert. Haiti's Predatory republic :The unending transition to demcracy . Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002.
... that the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act should be revised such that Haiti was excluded from its legislation. Notwithstanding, predictions regarding the amendment of the FCPA have transpired as 'inevitable' and suggest that the only factor holding this back is the time consuming process of repealing the relevant statute.[13] Fortunately, such cases remain very much anomalous and cannot be considered representative of the current global state of affairs.