A hearing was held in a downtown Miami courtroom for the 18 men who were transferred to the United States to stand trial for their alleged role in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, as federal prosecutors promise justice will be served. Monday morning’s hearing was dela yed by 30 to 45 minutes, simply because of the logistics of having all these defendants, many of whom don’t speak English. Headphones and interpreters had to be secured so that they would understand the proceedings. Each defendant was awarded representation by council and filed out of the courtroom after their individual case was heard. Authorities said the suspects who were transferred to the U.S. include gang leaders, Colombian mercenaries who are accused of carrying out the killing, and South Florida residents who are accused of plotting the assassination. Sunday afternoon, Jason Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, posted a statement on X that reads in part. “Five years later we are still bringing defendants before american courts … and we are not finished.” Reding Quiñones said 30 people in total were indicted for their involvement in the assassination of Haiti’s president. According to the indictment, those involved are accused of using COVID relief funds to finance the assassination. According to the FBI special agent in charge, multiple arrests were made in the U.S. and abroad on Sunday. The Miami Herald reported that a U.S. military plane arrived in Port-au-Prince just before 11 a.m. on Sunday to pick up Joseph Felix Badio, a key suspect. Badio was joined by a group of Colombian commandos accused of taking part in the assassination. The Herald reports all of these suspects were flown to Miami. Video released by the FBI shows the plane with the suspects on board landing in Miami, as well as the suspects in blue jumpsuits and surgical masks being loaded off the aircraft one by one. This all comes just a week before Christian Emmanuel Sanon is scheduled to face a federal district judge in Miami. Before the announcement of Sunday’s arrests, he was the last major defendant in U.S. custody awaiting trial. Prosecutors said Sanon was the one chosen to replace Moïse as president by conspirators. Prosecutors also said the July 2021 assassination was carried out by a squad of gunmen who raided the president’s home overnight. The violence sent the Caribbean country into chaos from which it has never fully recovered. Sanon is scheduled to begin his jury trial in Miami on Monday. Many of the other defendants, especially those who are not American citizens, are being appointed attorneys and have pleaded not guilty. Back in May, a Miami jury convicted four men in Moïse’s killing, and at least five others have pleaded guilty and are serving life sentences. Monday’s hearing wrapped up at around 1:30 p.m. ...read more read less