FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — James Solages claims to have been penniless when he allegedly answered an ad on the internet seeking an interpreter for an operation in Haiti. The 35-year-old Haitian-born Solages is one of two South Florida men among 28 the Haitian government say are responsible for the deadly ambush attack that killed Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
Solages and Joseph Vincent, 55 of Miami, are claiming they believed they were working as interpreters for an authorized operation to arrest the Haitian president, The Washington Post is reporting.
The two told an investigative judge in Haiti they thought they were acting as interpreters for a group of Colombians. They said they believed the president was going to be arrested, not killed.
The attack happened early Wednesday when a heavily armed mob stormed the presidential mansion shooting Moïse repeatedly and injuring his wife, Martine Moïse. She is recovering in a Florida hospital.
A relative by marriage to Solages said he learned Wednesday evening on Facebook that Solages was being implicated in the death of Moïse. Schubert Dorisme said he was in disbelief about the allegations against his wife’s nephew.
Dorisme said he knew Solages as a giving man who cared about his people in Jacmel, a city in southeastern Haiti where he was born. Solages campaigned to run for mayor there, Dorisme said Thursday night at a family home in Tamarac.
Just last month, Solages filed for divorce from his wife, Marie Claude Ciceron. The couple were married in Plantation in 2018, according to court records. On June 15, Solages filed a financial affidavit saying he was unemployed and had zero cash on hand and zero assets.
Dorisme said he had not seen Solages for a few months. The Post, citing the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste, reported that Solages said he has been in Haiti for about a month and that Vincent has been there about six months.
Dorisme said he knew Solages traveled to Jacmel periodically to do charity work. He knew Solages last went to Haiti about two months ago, but Dorisme said he did not know why Solages was traveling there.
Three men believed to be part of the attack have been killed and eight are on the run. Solages and Vincent and the others captured were seen being detained Thursday evening, according to camera footage from multiple media outlets.
The footage shows the men lined against the wall, their arms behind their backs. In front of the long line of men were two tables holding rifles, machetes, mallets, cells phones, rope and what appears to be heavy-duty flashlights.
According to Solages’ LinkedIn profile, he has worked multiple jobs in South Florida. He wrote that he attended Florida Career College from 2015 to 2017. He worked as the CEO of a maintenance and repair company in addition to hospital and health care jobs.
Solages is also the president of a nonprofit organization with an office in North Lauderdale. FWA SA A JACMEL AVAN, which is Creole for “This Time Jacmel First,” has a mission of “rebuilding Haiti,” according to its website. The website as well as its Facebook page — both which were working Thursday — were no longer accessible Friday.
The website on Thursday said Solages claimed to be the chief commander of bodyguards for the Canadian Embassy in Haiti. However multiple news outlets are reporting that Canada’s foreign relation department said one of the men detained in the assassination (it did not name Solages) had been employed only briefly as a reserve bodyguard at its embassy by a private contractor.
A piece of mail for the charity was inserted in the door of an office listed as the address for the charity, though the nameplate lists another financial business. There was no answer there.
Also on Friday, no one answered the door of a woman who appeared to be associated with the charity. Her phone, while working earlier Thursday, now appears to be disconnected.
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