A North Carolina truck driver has been indicted by a federal jury in the District of Columbia for allegedly assisting a prominent Haitian gang leader who has been attempting to overthrow the government in the beleaguered Caribbean country.
Bazile Richardson, born in Haiti, has been accused of providing weapons and money to Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier, leader of the powerful Viv Ansamn gang coalition. Two unnamed associates have been charged as well.
According to the Miami Herald, federal prosecutors are claiming that Richardson and others have sent tens of thousands of dollars to Chérizier since December 2020. Funds were sent through intermediaries and wired to banking accounts in the country. They were then used to buy guns and vehicles and pay salaries to gang operatives.
Richardson was arrested in Houston last month. The indictment made reference to a voice memo he sent to another co-conspirator, saying he grew up with Chérizier and considered a "close friend of mine." "He's like a brother to me," he added.
"People cannot scare me because I live in the U.S. and I am not trying to conspire against the U.S. [Expletive] you, America. I am defending my country, which the U.S. embassy is destroying," he added, saying he knew he would end up facing prison or death.
Chérizier was sanctioned in December 2020 by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for leading armed groups during attacks in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince. He was then designated a global and foreign terrorist earlier this year, and the gang a "Foreign Terrorist Organization."
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