This article was originally published on The Haitian Times, a partner of URL Media.
US authorities are offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Haitian gang leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, following the unsealing of an indictment today that accuses him of conspiring to violate sanctions by directing money from the United States to his network in Haiti.
“There’s a good reason that there’s a $5 million reward for information leading to Cherizier’s arrest,” US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said in announcing the charges. “He’s a gang leader responsible for heinous human rights abuses, including violence against American citizens in Haiti.”
Prosecutors say Cherizier, 48, and Bazile Richardson, 48, a naturalized U.S. citizen, led a scheme to solicit money from members of the Haitian diaspora in the United States, route the transfers through intermediaries in Haiti, and send receipts to Cherizier. The funds were allegedly used to pay gang members and obtain firearms from illicit dealers.
Richardson was arrested July 23 in Pasadena, Texas, and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington, D.C., later today. Cherizier remains at large in Haiti.
“The U.S. government sanctioned Cherizier in 2020 because he was responsible for an ongoing campaign of violence, including the 2018 La Saline massacre,” Pirro said, noting that 71 people were killed, more than 400 houses destroyed, and at least seven women raped. “Our office is committed to keeping Americans safe anywhere in the world, and the gang violence that has ravaged Haiti must end.”
Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg said Cherizier and Richardson “sought to raise funds in the United States to bankroll Cherizier’s violent criminal enterprise, which is driving a security crisis in Haiti.”
FBI Criminal Investigative Division Acting Assistant Director Darren Cox added: “The FBI is committed to confronting foreign terrorist organizations wherever they operate, and Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier’s gang is no exception.”
Cherizier, a former Haitian National Police officer, leads the Revolutionary Forces of the G9 Family and Allies and helped create Viv Ansanm, a coalition of Haiti’s gangs designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2025.
Authorities say Cherizier has been under U.S. sanctions since December 2020 for his role in human rights abuses. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations are urging anyone with information to contact FBI 1-800-225-5324 or tips.fbi.gov, and HSI 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or ice.gov/webform/ice-tip-form.
An indictment is an allegation. The defendants are presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court.
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