SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal grand jury has indicted one of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders and a U.S. citizen accused of conspiring with him to violate U.S. sanctions and fund gang activities in the troubled Caribbean country, the U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, who many consider Haiti’s most powerful gang leader, has been indicted on charges of conspiring with people in the U.S. and Haiti to evade U.S. sanctions.
The State Department is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information that leads to Chérizier's arrest or conviction, officials said.
"He’s a gang leader responsible for heinous human rights abuses, including violence against American citizens in Haiti,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia.
Bazile Richardson, 48, was also indicted. Officials say he is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Haiti who grew up with Chérizier and lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Bazile was arrested on July 23 in Texas, according to officials.
READ MORE: Haitian police arrest a former senator accused of working with gangs to attack a peaceful community
Both are accused of leading a “wide-ranging conspiracy” by directly soliciting money transfers from members of the Haitian diaspora to raise funds for Chérizier’s gang activities in Haiti, according to the indictment. It stated that the money was used to pay the salaries of gang members and buy weapons from illegal dealers in Haiti. Most of the firearms are smuggled in from the U.S. since Haiti does not produce weapons.
“The unsealing of this indictment marks the results of a lengthy investigation into Jimmy Cherizier’s criminal activities,” said Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd M. Lyons.
“His actions to fund the oppression and slaughter of Haitians, including firearm procurement and trafficking networks, fundraising activities, movement and usage of U.S. dollars, and violations of sanctions, are unconscionable — but today marks a step towards accountability."
For long, gangs have had a presence in Haiti, but their influence in the country grew after the the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and the later collapse of the rule of law.
Chérizier, 48, has led a gang known as the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies, which is known for killings, kidnappings, extortion and violence. The gang helped to forge an alliance called Viv Ansanm that united Haiti’s many criminal gangs to oppose the legitimate government of Haiti.
The group has taken control of 90% of Port-au-Prince. It launched multiple attacks on key government infrastructure in February 2024 and raided Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. It also forced Haiti’s main international airport to close for nearly three months. The surge in violence led to the resignation of former Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who was locked out of his country while on an official visit to Kenya.
The U.S. government had already sanctioned Chérizier in 2020 due to his involvement in an ongoing campaign of violence, including the 2018 LaSaline massacre in which 71 people were killed, 400 houses were destroyed and at least seven women were raped.
Reign of terror
Chris Landberg, a senior U.S. State Department official, said Chérizier’s “reign of terror and mass violence against Haiti must end.”
But Jake Johnston, author of “Aid State” and international research director at the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research, questioned the government's reason for offering a bounty.
“This is a guy who is giving international media interviews regularly. I don’t think the issue is being able to find him," Johnston said, adding that the indictment doesn't represent a threat to Chérizier since he lives in Haiti. “It’s hard to see how it’ll have much of an effect."
The indictment comes as gang violence continues to surge in Haiti’s capital and beyond, with gunmen kidnapping an Irish missionary and seven other people, including a 3-year-old, from an orphanage earlier this month.
The office of Haiti’s prime minister did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the indictment.
Johnston said the broader strategy in the fight against gangs remains unclear.
“It does seem like there’s sort of an escalatory framework happening both in Haiti and the U.S.,” he said. “Where does that actually go?”
Darren Cox, acting assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, said the bureau’s Miami office is leading the effort to apprehend Chérizier.
“The FBI is focused more than ever on crushing violent crime,” Cox said. “There is no safe haven for them, or the people like them.”
WLRN producer Jimena Romero contributed to this report.
