Washington, D.C. – Six Haitian Nationals have been indicted and were arraigned last week in two separate cases on charges of conspiracy to commit hostage taking and hostage taking of American citizens in Haiti, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor and Jonathan I. Soloman, Supervisory Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced today.
In the first case (hereinafter Destine), defendants Lucson Renaldo Destine, 23, Rochel Succes, 22, and Richardo Desir Theard, 31, were indicted on April 29, 2008, in a two-count indictment charging them with Conspiracy to Commit Hostage Taking and Hostage Taking. In the second case (hereinafter Ceide), defendants Jean Claude Ceide, 31, Wesly Ducastin, 31, Pierre Peterson, 23 and Polynice Wadner, 31, were indicted on November 8, 2007, in a four-count indictment charging them with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Hostage Taking, one count of Hostage Taking, Aiding and Abetting Hostage Taking and Attempt to Commit Hostage Taking.
After being held in a Haitian prison in Port Au Prince for over one year, the defendants in each case waived extradition and were flown to the United States. The six defendants were arraigned on September 18, 2008, before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Getting the defendants from Haiti to Washington D.C. was accomplished by the concerted efforts of the several entities, including several sections of the FBI and other U.S. federal agencies, the government of Haiti and the government of Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic.
A Pretrial Detention Hearing will be held in the Ceide case on September 23, 2008, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Facciola. A Pretrial Detention Hearing will be held in the Destine case on September 25, 2008, also before Magistrate Judge Facciola.
In the Destine case, the defendants are charged in connection with an incident that took place on the evening of April 13, 2007, when, according to the indictment, the defendants kidnapped an eighteen-year-old American citizen at gunpoint as he was waiting to pick up his younger sister from a residence she was visiting in Port Au Prince, Haiti. The victim was taken to a house under construction and held captive there overnight while the kidnappers negotiated with the victim’s family the payment of $400,000 U.S. Dollars as ransom in exchange for the victim’s safe release. The following afternoon, the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Haitian National Police and the United Nations Civilian Police rescued the victim at that house, capturing two of the defendants at the scene and the third defendant a short time later.
In the second case (Ceide), according to the indictment, the four named defendants were members of a Haitian Gang called Delmas. The purpose of the gang was, among other things, to kidnap persons for ransom. They particularly sought to kidnap American Nationals from whom they believed they could get the highest ransom. On May 5, 2006, the defendants and others allegedly kidnapped two young teenage students, including one American National, on their way to school. The four named defendants held the Haitian and American girls for ransom for three days, as they negotiated with the American’s grandfather. Originally the defendants demanded a ransom of $200,000 U.S. dollars, but ended up settling for much less before safely releasing the two girls.
In announcing the indictments and arraignments, U.S. Attorney Taylor and FBI Special Agent in Charge Solomon praised the efforts of Supervisory Special Agent Amanda Moran from the FBI Criminal Investigative Division; The Legal Attache Office of the FBI in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic; the Anti-Kidnaping Unit of the Haitian National Police; Immigration and Custom Enforcement, Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic; United Nations Civilian Police; U.S. Citizenship Services Office, Port Au Prince, Haiti; U.S. Embassy Haiti; Customs and Border Patrol, Ft Lauderdale International Airport; FBI's Special Flight Operation Unit, Manassas, VA; Washington Field Office SWAT, Miami Field Office SWAT, Miami Surveillance Operations Group-1; the T-8 and T-5 Squads of the Miami Division; Robert Webb of the FBI Miami Field Office, the lead investigator in the Ceide case; Special Agents Carlos M. Monero of the FBI Miami Field Office and Michael Greene of the FBI Atlanta field office, the lead investigators in the Destine case; Assistant U.S. Attorney Angela Schmidt, the prosecutor in the Destine case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Long-Doyle, the prosecutor in the Ceide case.
An Indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
U.S. Department of Justice
Jeffrey A. Taylor
United States Attorney
for the District of Columbia
Judiciary Center
555 4th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
Source: FBI.Gov
No comments:
Post a Comment