Former Haitian mayor sentenced to US prison after lying about violent killings
Jean Morose Viliena, 53, was convicted of three counts of visa fraud in March. He was sentenced on Friday to nine years in prison and three years of supervised release.
Viliena was the mayor of Les Irois, Haiti, from December 2006 until at least February 2010. He was backed by a political machine called Korega, 'which exerts power throughout the southwestern region of Haiti through armed violence,' according to United States Attorney Leah B. Foley's office.
Viliena supervised his mayoral staff and security detail and led an armed group in Les Irois aligned with Korega, the statement reads. Under his supervision, the Korega militia enforced Viliena's policies by various means, including targeting political opponents in Les Irois through armed violence.
'As Mayor, Viliena was involved in several instances of violence,' Foley's office wrote.
In July 2007, a witness spoke at a judicial proceeding in Les Irois on behalf of a neighbor who had been assaulted by Viliena. That evening, Vilena led an armed group to that witness's home, where he and his associates shot and killed the individual's younger brother and 'then smashed his skull with a large rock before a crowd of bystanders.'
Another incident was in April 2008, when a group of local journalists and activists founded a community radio station. Viliena opposed the station and therefore mobilized his staff members and the Korega militia to 'forcible shut down the radio station and seize its broadcasting equipment.' Around this time, Viliena gave firearms to the Korega militia members, some of whom also carried machetes and picks, according to the press release.
When the radio station was attacked, 'Viliena pistol-whipped a person with his gun and struck him with his fists.' When the person tried to run, Viliena ordered one of his associates to shoot and kill him. The man was hit in the leg and spent several months in different hospitals. His leg was then amputated above the knee.
Another person, who was a citizen of Haiti, became a target of Viliena because of his association with the station. He was shot in the face during the attack, Foley's office said. The individual needed intensive medical treatment for months, including two surgeries to extract shotgun pellets from his face, which left him blind in one eye. Pieces of shotgun pellets are still in the person's scalp and arms.
Viliena presented himself at the United States Embassy Consular Office in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where he submitted an application for an Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration in an effort to gain entry into the United States. The form requires that the applicant states whether or not they are a member of any class of individuals that are excluded from admission into the United States, including those who have been involved in extrajudicial and political killings and 'other acts of violence against the Haitian people.' Viliena said he was not and his application was approved by the U.S. Department of State.
Around July 14, 2008, Viliena entered the United States and gained residence. He then received a permanent resident card, which he continued to use to enter the states numerous times, according to the press release.
'Jean Morose Viliena built a life in the United States by burying the truth about his violent past – a past marked by political persecution, bloodshed and the silencing of dissent in Haiti,' Foley said in a statement. '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.'
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