30398: (news) Chamberlain: Haitian Strongman (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By TOM HAYS

   NEW YORK, May 15  (AP) -- After trying to stay in the United States for
more than a decade, a former Haitian strongman said Tuesday that he is
willing to return to the Caribbean nation, where he faces murder and
torture charges.
   "I have no fear to be deported to Haiti," Emmanuel "Toto" Constant said
in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn, where he had been scheduled for
sentencing in a mortgage fraud case.
   Lawyers for the state attorney general's office and the federal
Department of Homeland Security urged Justice Abraham Gerges to sentence
Constant in the fraud case to time served, about 10 months of a proposed 1-
to-3-year sentence, to speed his deportation.
   Gerges postponed the sentencing after the Center for Constitutional
Rights claimed that Haiti's justice system was too unstable to prosecute
Constant. The civil rights group argued the proposed sentence in the fraud
case was too lenient, given Constant's background.
   The Haitian government has "clearly demonstrated" it can fairly
prosecute Constant, said Ajay Bhatt, an attorney with the Department of
Homeland Security.
   The judge suggested he might kill the deal, forcing Constant to withdraw
a guilty plea and go to trial on charges he defrauded lenders out of more
than $1.7 million. If convicted, Constant would face five to 15 years in
prison.
   After demanding to speak to the court, 50-year-old Constant stood at the
defense table and complained that the allegations in Haiti were "purely
political" and "should have no bearing on the case here."
   Another hearing was set for Monday.
   Constant, the 6-foot-4 son of a military officer, emerged as the feared
leader of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, or FRAPH,
after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's presidency was toppled in 1991.
   Human rights groups allege that between 1991 and 1994, FRAPH terrorized
and slaughtered slum-dwellers loyal to Aristide. When Aristide returned to
power in 1994, Constant fled to the United States.
   Despite a 1995 deportation order, Constant was allowed to remain because
of instability in Haiti. He kept a low profile, living with relatives in
New York until being jailed last year in the mortgage fraud case.