UPDATE 1-US court convicts four men in Haitian president's assassination, media reports

Four men ​from South Florida ‌were convicted in ​a U.S. federal court of conspiring to kidnap or kill Haiti's former ‌President Jovenel Moise, who was assassinated in 2021, media outlets reported on Friday. The men were all linked to a security ‌firm based in Miami known as Counter Terrorism Unit Federal ‌Academy, the Miami Herald and New York Times both reported.

Four men ​from South Florida ‌were convicted in ​a U.S. federal court of conspiring to kidnap or kill Haiti's former ‌President Jovenel Moise, who was assassinated in 2021, media outlets reported on Friday.

The men were all linked to a security ‌firm based in Miami known as Counter Terrorism Unit Federal ‌Academy, the Miami Herald and New York Times both reported. The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Moise, ⁠53, ​was killed ⁠on July 7, 2021, in an early morning attack on his residence ⁠in a suburb of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince. His wife was wounded ​but survived. Moise's murder left a political vacuum in the ⁠Caribbean nation and emboldened powerful gangs who serve as de facto authorities ⁠in ​large parts of the country's capital, Port-au-Prince.

The four men - Venezuela-American Antonio "Tony" Intriago; Colombian-born Arcangel Pretel; Ecuadorean-American Walter Veintemilla, and Haitian-American ⁠James Solages - were charged in a 2023 indictment that charged 11 ⁠men ⁠in total in a plot to kill the president.