A former Haitian coup leader and recently elected senator in that country pleaded guilty Monday to a US drug money-laundering charge under a deal that should allow him to avoid a potential sentence of life in prison for cocaine trafficking.
Self-confessed Haitian drug-trafficker, Guy Philippe, r., and his wife, Natalie Philippe in an undated photo.
Philippe's hearing is set for July 5th.
"Yes, your honor", said Philippe.
Philippe led a 2004 Haitian uprising that ousted then President Jean-Bertrand, Aristide and was indicted along with several others on U.S. drug charges in 2005.
For more than a decade, federal agents, in collaboration with the Haiti National Police made at least 10 attempts to arrest Philippe: setting up checkpoints, paying informants, launching a United States military operation and pursuing him in a foot chase only to lose him in dense vegetation.
Philippe was elected to the Haitian Senate in November but was arrested in the capital, Port-au-Prince, in January. The judge noted that Philippe had not yet been officially sworn in to office.
The remote, mountainous town of southwest Haiti where Philippe ran a virtual fiefdom was also quiet on Monday, local residents said.
Philippe is the last high-profile defendant from a U.S. crackdown on cocaine smuggling through Haiti that yielded the convictions of more than a dozen drug traffickers, Haitian senior police officers and a former Haitian senator.
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USA prosecutors accused Philippe of conspiring from 1997 to March 2001 to import more than five kilograms (11 lbs) of cocaine into the United States, and from June 1999 to April 2003 to launder money to hide illegal activity.
"Philippe cast aside his duty to protect and serve the people of Haiti", Acting US Attorney Benjamin Greenberg said.
However, according to admissions made in connection with the plea, beginning in the late 1990s, Philippe knowingly using his position as a high-ranking Haitian National Police Officer to provide protection for the shipments of drugs and drug proceeds arriving into Haiti in exchange for cash payments.
"Mr. Philippe has accepted responsibility by taking the plea", Bozanic said in a phone interview.
A former Haitian coup leader who was elected to be a senator pleaded guilty in the USA on Monday to conspiring to launder drug money, American officials said. He could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years, but under the federal sentencing guidelines in his plea agreement, he will likely face between nine and 11 years in prison.
Philippe, 49, will be sentenced on July 5.
"We're happy that's going to be the result", she said. The rest was deposited into his bank account and partly used towards the purchase of a Florida house.
Philippe was arrested on January 5 in Haiti after giving a radio interview and then extradited to the United States.
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