Latest news with #Viliena
Boston Globe
an hour ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Former mayor from Haiti sentenced to nine years for visa fraud
During Friday's sentencing, Viliena's attorney, Jason Benzaken, maintained his client's innocence and asked for leniency because it was his first criminal conviction. Benzaken did not respond to a request for comment Friday night. Until his arrest two years ago, Viliena had Advertisement 'Today's sentence brings a measure of justice for the lives he shattered and sends a clear message: the United States will not be a safe haven for human rights abusers.' Viliena was also Advertisement Viliena served as mayor of Les Irois from December 2006 until at least February 2010, Foley's office said. Prosecutors detailed a pattern of violence and intimidation linked to his time in office during the two-week trial that led to his conviction. Both during his campaign and tenure, Viliena committed numerous violent acts backed by Korega, a hardline political faction notorious for attacking journalists, activists, and opponents, the statement said. In 2007, Viliena allegedly led a mob targeting David Boniface, a witness who testified against him. When they found only Boniface's younger brother, Eclesiaste, at home, Viliena and his men shot and killed him. One attacker 'smashed his skull with a large rock before a crowd of bystanders,' the statement said. In 2008, when local activists and journalists launched a community radio station, Viliena and his allies forcibly shut it down. He armed Korega members—some carrying machetes and picks—and personally led the attack, according to the statement. Viliena pistol-whipped and punched one victim, Nissage Martyr, and when Martyr tried to flee, ordered an associate to shoot him. Martyr was hit in the leg and later had it amputated above the knee. Another victim, Juders Ysemé, was shot in the face and left permanently blind in one eye, according to Foley's office. In 2009, as Haitian investigators probed these actions, Viliena fled to Malden on a legal visa. After being indicted in Haiti in 2010, he skipped trial, and no in absentia proceedings occurred, according to a Advertisement Boniface, Martyr, and Ysemé filed the civil suit in 2017 under the Torture Victim Protection Act, which allows victims to seek justice in U.S. courts when denied in their home countries, Foley's office said. Both Boniface and Ysemé testified at Viliena's criminal trial as well. Boniface broke down on the stand when shown a photo of his brother's bloodied body. 'This is the picture of my brother who Jean Morose and his group assassinated,' he said, speaking in Haitian Creole, the Globe On Friday, Viliena's attorney argued for a lighter sentence for his client. 'Mr. Viliena has never been convicted of a crime and therefore this is his first incarceration,' said Benzaken. 'It has been a jarring and destabilizing experience for him, and 33 months of imprisonment is significantly impactful to him.' The court rejected those arguments. In addition to the nine-year prison term, Viliena was sentenced to three years of supervised release and faces deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence, according to Foley's office. Rita Chandler can be reached at
5 hours ago
- Politics
Former mayor from Haiti gets prison time for lying to get into the US
CONCORD, N.H. -- CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former mayor from Haiti convicted of lying about his violent past on his visa application was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison and three years of supervision, after which he will be subject to deportation proceedings. Jean Morose Viliena, of Malden, Massachusetts, was the mayor of Les Irois, Haiti, from December 2006 until February 2010. He was convicted of three counts of visa fraud in March and sentenced Friday in federal court in Boston. 'For more than a decade, he lived freely and comfortable in this country while the victims of his brutality lived in fear, exile and pain,' U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in statement. 'Today's sentence brings a measure of justice for the lives he shattered and sends a clear message: the United States will not be a safe have for human rights abusers.' According to prosecutors, Viliena committed 'violent atrocities' against his political foes in an isolated, rural community of about 22,000 residents on Haiti's western tip. In 2007, he was accused of leading a group of his allies to the home of a political opponent, where he and his associates shot and killed the opponent's younger brother, then smashed his skull with a rock. In 2008, Viliena and his allies went armed with guns, machetes, picks and sledgehammers to shut down a community radio station that he opposed, prosecutors said. Authorities said he pistol-whipped and punched a man and ordered an associate to shoot and kill the man and another person. Both survived, but one of the men lost a leg and the other was blinded in one eye. When he applied for a visa to enter the U.S., however, Viliena denied having 'ordered, carried out or materially assisted in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people.' He later received a permanent resident card and has raised a child who is a U.S. citizen by birth, prosecutors said. Defense attorneys argued in court that it was members of a rival political party — including some who they say are government witnesses — who committed the violence. They described the former mayor as the son of a farmer who became a teacher and eventually ran for mayor to improve conditions in town. In 2023, Viliena was found liable by an American jury in a civil trial
Hamilton Spectator
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Former mayor from Haiti gets prison time for lying to get into the US
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former mayor from Haiti convicted of lying about his violent past on his visa application was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison and three years of supervision, after which he will be subject to deportation proceedings. Jean Morose Viliena, of Malden, Massachusetts, was the mayor of Les Irois, Haiti, from December 2006 until February 2010. He was convicted of three counts of visa fraud in March and sentenced Friday in federal court in Boston. 'For more than a decade, he lived freely and comfortable in this country while the victims of his brutality lived in fear, exile and pain,' U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in statement. 'Today's sentence brings a measure of justice for the lives he shattered and sends a clear message: the United States will not be a safe have for human rights abusers.' According to prosecutors, Viliena committed 'violent atrocities' against his political foes in an isolated, rural community of about 22,000 residents on Haiti's western tip. In 2007, he was accused of leading a group of his allies to the home of a political opponent, where he and his associates shot and killed the opponent's younger brother, then smashed his skull with a rock. In 2008, Viliena and his allies went armed with guns, machetes, picks and sledgehammers to shut down a community radio station that he opposed, prosecutors said. Authorities said he pistol-whipped and punched a man and ordered an associate to shoot and kill the man and another person. Both survived, but one of the men lost a leg and the other was blinded in one eye. When he applied for a visa to enter the U.S., however, Viliena denied having 'ordered, carried out or materially assisted in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people.' He later received a permanent resident card and has raised a child who is a U.S. citizen by birth, prosecutors said. Defense attorneys argued in court that it was members of a rival political party — including some who they say are government witnesses — who committed the violence. They described the former mayor as the son of a farmer who became a teacher and eventually ran for mayor to improve conditions in town. In 2023, Viliena was found liable by an American jury in a civil trial in connection with the killing and the two attempted killings and assessed $15.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Winnipeg Free Press
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Former mayor from Haiti gets prison time for lying to get into the US
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former mayor from Haiti convicted of lying about his violent past on his visa application was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison and three years of supervision, after which he will be subject to deportation proceedings. Jean Morose Viliena, of Malden, Massachusetts, was the mayor of Les Irois, Haiti, from December 2006 until February 2010. He was convicted of three counts of visa fraud in March and sentenced Friday in federal court in Boston. 'For more than a decade, he lived freely and comfortable in this country while the victims of his brutality lived in fear, exile and pain,' U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in statement. 'Today's sentence brings a measure of justice for the lives he shattered and sends a clear message: the United States will not be a safe have for human rights abusers.' According to prosecutors, Viliena committed 'violent atrocities' against his political foes in an isolated, rural community of about 22,000 residents on Haiti's western tip. In 2007, he was accused of leading a group of his allies to the home of a political opponent, where he and his associates shot and killed the opponent's younger brother, then smashed his skull with a rock. In 2008, Viliena and his allies went armed with guns, machetes, picks and sledgehammers to shut down a community radio station that he opposed, prosecutors said. Authorities said he pistol-whipped and punched a man and ordered an associate to shoot and kill the man and another person. Both survived, but one of the men lost a leg and the other was blinded in one eye. When he applied for a visa to enter the U.S., however, Viliena denied having 'ordered, carried out or materially assisted in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people.' He later received a permanent resident card and has raised a child who is a U.S. citizen by birth, prosecutors said. Defense attorneys argued in court that it was members of a rival political party — including some who they say are government witnesses — who committed the violence. They described the former mayor as the son of a farmer who became a teacher and eventually ran for mayor to improve conditions in town. In 2023, Viliena was found liable by an American jury in a civil trial in connection with the killing and the two attempted killings and assessed $15.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
Miami Herald
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Former Haiti mayor who lied about killing opponents is sentenced to 9 years in U.S.
The former mayor of a small rural village in Haiti, accused of torturing and killing opponents in his homeland, was sentenced Friday in a Massachusetts federal court to nine years in prison for lying about the atrocities in order to obtain a U.S. green card. Jean Morose Viliena, 53, who served as mayor of Les Irois, in the country's Grand'Anse region, had previously been ordered by a federal court in Boston to pay $15.5 million in damages after being found guilty in a civil case of torture, extrajudicial killings, attempted killing and arson. On Friday Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the District of Massachusetts sentenced him to do time in prison, plus three years of supervised release, after a federal jury in March convicted him of three counts of visa fraud to obtain his permanent resident or green card. After completely his sentence, Viliena is expected to be deported to Haiti, which is routine for foreign nationals convicted of crimes in the US. Prosecutors said that when Viliena, already two years into his mayoral term, presented himself at the U.S. Embassy Consular Office in Port-au-Prince in 2008 to apply for a U.S. visa, he falsely responded 'no' to a question about whether he was 'a member of any class of individuals excluded from admission into the United States, including those who have 'ordered, carried out or materially assisted in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people.' That response allowed him to be granted the visa, which he used to visit the U.S. before deciding to settle in the Boston area. READ ME: Boston bus driver and former mayor in Haiti sued for human rights abuses in U.S. court Two months before his appointment at the U.S. embassy, Viliena and his associates had carried out an attack against an opposition radio station in Les Irois. Viliena, at the time the mayor, and his political associates beat a student during the attack and when the student tried to flee, a bullet struck his face, leaving him permanently blind in one eye. 'According to multiple witnesses' testimony, Viliena mobilized armed members of his staff and supporters to forcibly shut down the radio station and seize its broadcasting equipment,' the U.S. Justice Department said Friday in a statement announcing the sentencing. 'Viliena distributed firearms to his men, some of whom also carried machetes and picks. According to the evidence presented at trial, during this incident, Viliena beat one man and ordered an associate to shoot him when he tried to flee. As a result, the man's leg was later amputated above the knee.' Viliena first became mayor in December 2006 and served until February 2010. He returned to the office in 2012 as an appointee of then President Michel Martelly despite many questions around his appointment. At the time, United Nations staff flagged the appointment due to a murder conviction in Haitian courts against Viliena, but their concerns were ignored by Haitian authorities. As both a candidate and mayor, Viliena was backed by Korega, a political machine that used armed violence to exert power throughout the southwestern region of Haiti. Viliena personally supervised his mayoral staff and other armed supporters aligned with Korega and directed them to engage in armed violence to quash opposition to his authority, U.S. authorities said, citing evidence presented during trial. In addition to the radio station attack, witnesses testified about another brutal incident on July 27, 2007, when Viliena violently retaliated against an activist who had previously spoken at a judicial proceeding on behalf of a neighbor whom Viliena had assaulted. In an of reprisal that evening, Viliena led an armed group to the activist's home, where he and his associates shot and killed the activist's younger brother and then smashed the brother's skull with a large rock before a crowd of bystanders. 'His lies to U.S. immigration authorities allowed him to unlawfully enter this country and obtain lawful permanent resident status,' said Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department's criminal division. Viliena's past eventually caught up with him in 2017 after three of his victims filed suit against him with help from San Francisco-based Center for Justice & Accountability and the multinational Dentons law firm. By then, he had obtained his green card and had built a comfortable home as an Uber and bus driver. He also had raised a U.S.-born son. U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said while Viliena's victims were forced to live with the pain of his human rights abuses, he was able to build a life in the United States 'by burying the truth about his violent past — a past marked by by political persecution, bloodshed and the silencing of dissent in Haiti. 'For more than a decade, he lived freely and comfortably in this country while the victims of his brutality lived in fear, exile and pain. Today's sentence brings a measure of justice for the lives he shattered and sends a clear message: the United States will not be a safe haven for human rights abusers.,' Foley added. 'Lying to gain entry into this country and then lying again under oath to avoid accountability strikes at the heart of our immigration and legal systems. ' Both said Viliena's conviction serves as a reminders to those who commit violent crimes in their home countries: The U.S. will not be a refuge, and those who carry out human rights abusers and lie take refuge here will be investigated and prosecuted.
