22021: (Hermantin)Sun-Sentinel- Haiti's ex-police chief jailed at Miami hearing (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Haiti's ex-police chief jailed at Miami hearing



By Ann W. O'Neill
Staff Writer

May 22, 2004

A federal magistrate on Friday ordered the one-time commander of the Haitian
National Police jailed without bail while he awaits trial for allegedly
taking money to protect cocaine shipments passing through Haiti on the way
to the United States.

The hourlong hearing in Miami resembled a curtain raiser for that trial.
When it ended, U.S. Magistrate Chris McAliley ruled that Rudy Therassan, 39,
should stay behind bars because he might flee or pose a danger to the
community.

During the hearing, a prosecutor disclosed that Therassan had amassed a
fortune that could not be explained by his police work, a defense attorney
named two Haitians he suspects are U.S. government informants, and a Drug
Enforcement Administration agent acknowledged the existence of a grand jury
investigation of the case.

The judge agreed that Therassan had plenty of money if he chose to leave
South Florida and go into hiding to avoid prosecution.

During a search May 14 of Therassan's apartment in the Doral section of
Miami, federal agents uncovered documents indicating Therassan held large
amounts of cash in several bank accounts in the United States, Haiti and
elsewhere, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Kirkpatrick said.

Agents also found almost $1 million in other material assets, including two
homes in Palm Beach County and about $100,000 worth of watches and jewels,
DEA agent Noble Harrison testified.

According to testimony, Therassan began cooperating with the DEA in November
2002 and the agency helped him enter the United States the following April.
He met several times with DEA agents in South Florida and in Washington. It
was not clear when or why his cooperation ended or how he graduated from
witness to suspect.

"Mr. Therassan was never an officially documented source with the DEA,"
Harrison testified.

Therassan's visa had expired and he was in the country illegally when he was
taken into custody May 14 during a traffic stop on the Palmetto Expressway.
An immigration hold was lodged against him Thursday, Kirkpatrick said.

Defense attorney Lawrence Besser grilled the DEA agent about the identities
of the government's informants, including a convicted Haitian drug
trafficker and a former security official for ousted President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide.

Kirkpatrick objected before Harrison could name the witnesses, referred to
in court as CS-1 and CS-8. Besser claimed CS-1 was convicted Haitian drug
smuggler Bedouin "Jacques" Ketant, 43, who was sentenced earlier this year
in federal court in Miami to 35 years in prison.

CS-1 has told authorities that, beginning in March 2001, he paid Therassan
$150,000 per planeload of cocaine in protection money, plus the profits from
the sale of 35 kilos.

At his February sentencing, just days before Aristide left Haiti, Ketant
launched an angry tirade, accusing the president of turning Haiti into a
"narco-country." He also blamed Aristide for his "kidnapping" by the DEA and
the murder of his brother.

Therassan is in the thick of those allegations, as well. He has admitted
killing Ketant's brother, Hector, also a Haitian drug smuggler, in February
2003, although he claims it was in self-defense.

Later, Therassan was the police official who arrested Jacques Ketant,
handcuffed him, drove him to the airport and placed him in the hands of DEA
agents, Besser said.

"Let's talk about CS-8," Besser said. "We all know who he is, but we'll play
the game." He then described the circumstances surrounding the arrest and
extradition of Oriel Jean, 39, Aristide's former security chief.

Jean is awaiting trial on a charge identical to Therassan's. He is scheduled
to appear in court Monday.

As Besser questioned how agents documented Therassan's assets, the agent let
slip, "That information came from a grand jury investigation." Kirkpatrick
quickly objected, saying any discussion about the grand jury was "improper
at this time."


Copyright © 2004, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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