UPDATE 2-US court convicts four men in Haitian president's assassination, media reports say

"This is a Haitian plot and it is a Haitian conspiracy," defense attorney Emmanuel Perez said, arguing that the men were being used as scapegoats in a flawed FBI investigation, the Miami Herald reported. A divisive figure in Haiti who declined to leave office after ⁠his term ended in February 2021, Moise's death added to the Caribbean nation's political instability and unleashed widespread gang violence.

Four South Florida men were convicted on ​Friday of plotting to kill Haitian President Jovenel Moise in 2021 ​by hiring mercenaries to assassinate him at ‌his Port-au-Prince ​home, according to CBS News and other media. Prosecutors argued during the nine-week trial in a Miami federal court that the men assembled two dozen former Colombian soldiers and supplied them with money, guns, ‌ammunition and tactical vests in a conspiracy to kill Moise. The 53-year-old president was shot dead in July 2021 at his private residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince, a killing that left a gaping political vacuum in the Caribbean nation and emboldened powerful gangs.

Standing trial were Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, 53, ‌a former FBI informant, Colombian national and U.S. permanent resident; Antonio Intriago, 62, a Venezuelan American owner of a security firm; James Solages, ‌40, a Haitian American handyman; and Walter Veintemilla, 57, an Ecuadorean American. They were convicted of multiple counts of conspiracy to kill and kidnap a person outside of the United States resulting in death, and of providing material support or resources to carry out a violation resulting in death.

All four men face life in prison. A fifth defendant, Christian ⁠Emmanuel Sanon, ​a Haiti-born doctor - who court papers ⁠say wanted to be named president after Moise was killed - will be tried later due to health issues.

The killing has prompted multiple investigations and indictments in Haiti and ⁠the United States, while giving rise to competing theories over who ordered the assassination and why. Defense lawyers for the Florida men said the government used unreliable ​evidence from Haiti, the Miami Herald reported. They argued their clients only intended to serve an arrest warrant on the president because ⁠he had overstayed his term.

The defendants also claimed that by the time the Colombians arrived to arrest him, Moise had already been killed by his own security forces and ⁠officials ​in his government. "This is a Haitian plot and it is a Haitian conspiracy," defense attorney Emmanuel Perez said, arguing that the men were being used as scapegoats in a flawed FBI investigation, the Miami Herald reported.

A divisive figure in Haiti who declined to leave office after ⁠his term ended in February 2021, Moise's death added to the Caribbean nation's political instability and unleashed widespread gang violence. Jake Johnston, a research ⁠associate at the Center for Economic and ⁠Policy Research in Washington, said it would be a "misconception" that the case would address all the questions surrounding the killing.

"The Miami crew is just a small sliver," he said. "There are all these people accused ‌in Haiti. The big ‌picture is that we're not going to get the full story here." (Reporting ​by Rich McKay in Atlanta)