BOSTON — A Massachusetts judge has sentenced former Les Irois mayor Jean Morose Viliena to nine years behind bars after jurors found he concealed a campaign of lethal intimidation in Haiti to obtain permanent U.S. residency.
Key Points
- Sentence: 9 years’ imprisonment plus three years’ supervised release
- Convictions: Three counts of immigration (visa) fraud
- Hidden past: Killings and armed reprisals against journalists and activists (2006-2010)
- Entry lie: Claimed on visa form he had never ordered or supported political violence
The Crimes He Tried to Bury
Witnesses told the federal jury that while mayor, Viliena armed loyalists from the Korega political faction and personally led assaults on opponents:
- July 2007 – Retaliation raid kills a teenage boy; his skull was crushed with a rock.
- April 2008 – Armed closure of a local radio station: one victim lost a leg, another an eye.
Less than eight weeks after the radio-station attack, Viliena applied for a U.S. visa, ticking “No” next to the question about involvement in extrajudicial killings.
U.S. Officials Speak Out
- Matthew R. Galeotti, Justice Department: “Human-rights offenders cannot dodge accountability by lying at a consulate window.”
- U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley: “For ten years he enjoyed safety and prosperity here while his Haitian victims coped with trauma and exile.”
- HSI Special Agent Michael J. Krol: “Foreign criminals looking for safe harbour in America should consider this a warning.”
What Comes Next
Viliena, 53, will serve his term in federal custody and may face removal proceedings on completion. Prosecutors say the case underscores a broader effort to track war-crime suspects who slip through immigration filters.
“If you bury the truth on your application, we will dig it up,” Foley said after Friday’s hearing.
For survivors in Les Irois, the verdict marks the first formal punishment tied to the violent Korega era—delivered not in a Haitian courtroom, but 1,500 miles away in Boston.
