Haitian man sentenced to 9 years in US prison for leading cocaine-trafficking ring

A Haitian man, Jean Eliobert Jasme, 63, of Port-au-Prince, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison and fined $1 million for leading an international cocaine-trafficking conspiracy that moved drugs from South America through the Caribbean into the United States, federal prosecutors announced. 

Jasme — also known as “ED1,” “Eddy One,” and “Tio Loco” — was sentenced Sept. 18 in the Eastern District of Wisconsin to 108 months in prison and four years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine intended for import into the U.S.

Court documents show that between February 2019 and March 2022, Jasme coordinated shipments of bulk cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela through Haiti and the Dominican Republic, often using planes and boats to transport the drugs to the Bahamas and on to the United States. Authorities described him as a long-time smuggler with personnel and equipment at his disposal, charging commissions of up to 30 percent of each load.

In early 2022, Jasme was arranging a shipment of 4,000 kilograms — more than 8,800 pounds — of cocaine on a Beechcraft King Air C90 aircraft. In one message to a Colombian broker, Jasme boasted about his capacity to move massive amounts of cocaine.

“You know, 4,000 kilograms is nothing, brother. I can schedule that on the C90, 500 kilograms per trip, two trips a week without any headaches. In four weeks, we have 4,000 kilograms here [in Haiti]. … I have people who are waiting for work, who are waiting for food [cocaine]. Big people who are buying for 500, 400, buying a thousand, so you know,” Jasme said.

Law enforcement stopped the shipment before it was completed. In March 2022, the Haitian National Police arrested Jasme, who was later expelled to the United States to face prosecution.