A naturalized U.S. citizen from Lauderhill, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, smuggling and federal export-control violations for his role in a firearms-trafficking operation that sent at least 140 weapons to Haiti, according to the Justice Department.
Jean Robert Casimir, 53, admitted in U.S. District Court to illegally exporting the firearms without obtaining the required license from the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, prosecutors said. The scheme operated from at least August 2020 through December 2024.
According to court documents, Casimir purchased at least 108 firearms from federally licensed dealers and an additional 30 to 35 firearms from a U.S. person in Florida, all of which he exported to Haiti without a license. The firearms included rifles, pistols and shotguns of various makes and models.
To smuggle the firearms, Casimir and his co-conspirators used industrial air compressors that they cut open and welded back together, packing disassembled rifles and handguns with foam insulation, prosecutors said. They then shipped the compressors and other packages to Haiti aboard boats leaving from the Miami area.
Casimir, a former Haitian National Police officer, was arrested in Lauderhill on Dec. 16, 2024, and indicted on Jan. 23, 2025.
The case was announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg; U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia; Brett D. Skiles, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and José R. Figueroa, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Miami.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations offices in Washington, D.C., and Miami, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariel Dean for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Beau Barnes of the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Paschall also contributed to the prosecution, according to the Justice Department.
This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times’ AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times’ original reporting, wire services, and/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com
The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.
