Overview:
Federal prosecutors have unsealed an indictment charging Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier with conspiring to violate US sanctions by directing funds from the USA to his gang community in Haiti. Authorities are providing a $5 million reward for info resulting in his arrest or conviction.
US authorities are providing a reward of as much as $5 million for info resulting in the arrest or conviction of Haitian gang chief Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, following the unsealing of an indictment today that accuses him of conspiring to violate sanctions by directing cash from the USA to his community in Haiti.
“There’s a superb cause that there’s a $5 million reward for info resulting in Cherizier’s arrest,” US Legal professional Jeanine Ferris Pirro stated in saying the fees. “He’s a gang chief chargeable for heinous human rights abuses, together with violence towards Americans in Haiti.”
Prosecutors say Cherizier, 48, and Bazile Richardson, 48, a naturalized U.S. citizen, led a scheme to solicit cash from members of the Haitian diaspora in the USA, route the transfers by intermediaries in Haiti, and ship receipts to Cherizier. The funds had been allegedly used to pay gang members and acquire firearms from illicit sellers.
Richardson was arrested July 23 in Pasadena, Texas, and is predicted to seem in federal courtroom in Washington, D.C., later at the moment. Cherizier stays at massive in Haiti.
“The U.S. authorities sanctioned Cherizier in 2020 as a result of he was chargeable for an ongoing marketing campaign of violence, together with the 2018 La Saline bloodbath,” Pirro stated, noting that 71 folks had been killed, greater than 400 homes destroyed, and at the very least seven girls raped. “Our workplace is dedicated to preserving People protected wherever on the earth, and the gang violence that has ravaged Haiti should finish.”
Assistant Legal professional Common John A. Eisenberg stated Cherizier and Richardson “sought to boost funds in the USA to bankroll Cherizier’s violent felony enterprise, which is driving a safety disaster in Haiti.”
FBI Prison Investigative Division Performing Assistant Director Darren Cox added: “The FBI is dedicated to confronting overseas terrorist organizations wherever they function, and Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier’s gang isn’t any exception.”
Cherizier, a former Haitian Nationwide Police officer, leads the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Household and Allies and helped create Viv Ansanm, a coalition of Haiti’s gangs designated as a Overseas Terrorist Group in 2025.
Authorities say Cherizier has been underneath U.S. sanctions since December 2020 for his position in human rights abuses. The FBI and Homeland Safety Investigations are urging anybody with info to contact FBI 1-800-225-5324 or suggestions.fbi.gov, and HSI 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or ice.gov/webform/ice-tip-form.
An indictment is an allegation. The defendants are presumed harmless except proved responsible in courtroom.