Emmanuel Constant
Encyclopedia
Emmanuel Constant is the founder of FRAPH
, a Haiti
an death squad
organized in mid-1993 to terrorize supporters of exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide
.
In 2001, a Haitian court convicted him in absentia and sentenced him to life in prison for his role in the Raboteau Massacre. In 2008, he was convicted of mortgage fraud and sentenced to 12 - 37 years in prison. He is currently incarcerated in a maximum security prison in New York.
, Constant, a Central Intelligence Agency
operative, organised FRAPH
, a Haiti
an death squad
, to terrorize supporters of exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide
. One CIA source implicated Constant in the 1993 assassination of Justice Minister Guy Malary
, although the Agency said the source was "untested".
Constant "was a paid agent of the C.I.A. from 1992 to 1994, as were several leading members of the military junta. He provided information to the agency for about $500 a month, according to United States officials and Mr. Constant himself."
and UN
-led multinational occupation restored Aristide to power, Constant managed to escape to the U.S. He was later detained by INS
officials in 1995 and prepared to be deported to Haïti to stand trial for involvement in the Raboteau Massacre. However, in a December 1995 interview with Ed Bradley
on 60 Minutes
, Constant threatened to divulge secrets about his relationship with the CIA during the early '90s. After this threat, as well as ostensibly receiving intelligence that there was a plot to assassinate Constant should he return to Haïti, the Clinton administration ordered the INS to release Constant in May 1996.
In 2001, Constant was convicted in absentia of his role in the Raboteau Massacre and sentenced to life in prison and hard labor.
, New York county court to face charges that he participated in a mortgage scheme that defrauded Sun Trust Mortgage Bank and Fremont Investment and Loan of more than $1 million. The purported fraud took place while Constant was employed at Melville Brokerage.
Notwithstanding pending rape charges, state Supreme Court Justice Michael Mullen
at arraignment set bail for Constant at $50,000, despite the protest of prosecutors and human rights groups.
In October 2006, a Federal Court in New York ordered Constant to pay three women raped by FRAPH a total of $19 million in damages, in a case brought by the Center for Justice & Accountability. The court declared that "Constant’s conduct was clearly malicious. As commander of FRAPH, Constant founded and oversaw an organization that was dedicated principally towards terrorizing and torturing political opponents of the military regime. His direction – or at a minimum, approval – of FRAPH’s state-backed campaign of violence constitutes an inexcusable violation of international law and merits a stiff punishment."
On July 25, 2008, after hearing two weeks of testimony, a Brooklyn jury convicted Constant of several mortgage fraud felonies, including Scheme to Defraud and Grand Larceny. The convictions came within hours of a vigorous confrontation between Constant, who testified in his own defense, and Assistant Attorney General Thomas Schellhammer, who cross-examined him.
On October 28, 2008, Judge Abraham Gerges of the Kings County Supreme Court sentenced Mr. Constant to serve 12 – 37 years in prison. Judge Gerges concluded his memorandum with a plea that the United States government allow Constant to serve his entire sentence in New York State, rather than return him to Haiti "where he may evade justice due to the instability of the Haitian judicial system." Judge Gerges noted that "it is apparent that the federal authorities may deport him shortly."
Toto appears as an interviewee in The Psychopath Test
Jon Ronson
where Jon asserts Toto is in fact psychopathic according to the Bob Hare
Psychopathy Checklist
.
Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haïti
The Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti was a far-rightparamilitary group organized in mid-1993. Its goal was to undermine support for the popular Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who served less than eight months as Haïti's president before being deposed, on 29 September 1991,...
, a Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
organized in mid-1993 to terrorize supporters of exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies...
.
In 2001, a Haitian court convicted him in absentia and sentenced him to life in prison for his role in the Raboteau Massacre. In 2008, he was convicted of mortgage fraud and sentenced to 12 - 37 years in prison. He is currently incarcerated in a maximum security prison in New York.
1991 - 1994
In mid-1993, after the 1991 Haitian coup d'état1991 Haitian coup d'état
The 1991 Haitian coup d'état took place on 29 September 1991 when President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, elected 8 months earlier in the Haitian general election, 1990–1991, was deposed by the Haitian army. The coup was led by Army General Raoul Cédras, Army Chief of Staff Phillipe Biamby and Chief of...
, Constant, a Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
operative, organised FRAPH
Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haïti
The Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti was a far-rightparamilitary group organized in mid-1993. Its goal was to undermine support for the popular Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who served less than eight months as Haïti's president before being deposed, on 29 September 1991,...
, a Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
, to terrorize supporters of exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies...
. One CIA source implicated Constant in the 1993 assassination of Justice Minister Guy Malary
Guy Malary
Guy Malary was a Justice Minister of Haiti, appointed by Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991 and continuing in office under the post-1991 Haitian coup d'état regime. He was killed in an ambush along with his bodyguards. "According to the petitioners [to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights], in...
, although the Agency said the source was "untested".
Constant "was a paid agent of the C.I.A. from 1992 to 1994, as were several leading members of the military junta. He provided information to the agency for about $500 a month, according to United States officials and Mr. Constant himself."
1994 - 2005
After the 1994 U.S.United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
-led multinational occupation restored Aristide to power, Constant managed to escape to the U.S. He was later detained by INS
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
officials in 1995 and prepared to be deported to Haïti to stand trial for involvement in the Raboteau Massacre. However, in a December 1995 interview with Ed Bradley
Ed Bradley
Edward Rudolph "Ed" Bradley, Jr. was an American journalist, best known for twenty-six years of award-winning work on the CBS News television program 60 Minutes...
on 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, Constant threatened to divulge secrets about his relationship with the CIA during the early '90s. After this threat, as well as ostensibly receiving intelligence that there was a plot to assassinate Constant should he return to Haïti, the Clinton administration ordered the INS to release Constant in May 1996.
In 2001, Constant was convicted in absentia of his role in the Raboteau Massacre and sentenced to life in prison and hard labor.
2006 - present
On July 7, 2006 Emmanuel Constant appeared in a Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York county court to face charges that he participated in a mortgage scheme that defrauded Sun Trust Mortgage Bank and Fremont Investment and Loan of more than $1 million. The purported fraud took place while Constant was employed at Melville Brokerage.
Notwithstanding pending rape charges, state Supreme Court Justice Michael Mullen
Michael Mullen
Michael Glenn "Mike" Mullen is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral, who served as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2011. Mullen previously served as the Navy's 28th Chief of Naval Operations from July 22, 2005 to September 29, 2007...
at arraignment set bail for Constant at $50,000, despite the protest of prosecutors and human rights groups.
In October 2006, a Federal Court in New York ordered Constant to pay three women raped by FRAPH a total of $19 million in damages, in a case brought by the Center for Justice & Accountability. The court declared that "Constant’s conduct was clearly malicious. As commander of FRAPH, Constant founded and oversaw an organization that was dedicated principally towards terrorizing and torturing political opponents of the military regime. His direction – or at a minimum, approval – of FRAPH’s state-backed campaign of violence constitutes an inexcusable violation of international law and merits a stiff punishment."
On July 25, 2008, after hearing two weeks of testimony, a Brooklyn jury convicted Constant of several mortgage fraud felonies, including Scheme to Defraud and Grand Larceny. The convictions came within hours of a vigorous confrontation between Constant, who testified in his own defense, and Assistant Attorney General Thomas Schellhammer, who cross-examined him.
On October 28, 2008, Judge Abraham Gerges of the Kings County Supreme Court sentenced Mr. Constant to serve 12 – 37 years in prison. Judge Gerges concluded his memorandum with a plea that the United States government allow Constant to serve his entire sentence in New York State, rather than return him to Haiti "where he may evade justice due to the instability of the Haitian judicial system." Judge Gerges noted that "it is apparent that the federal authorities may deport him shortly."
Toto appears as an interviewee in The Psychopath Test
The Psychopath Test
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry is a book by Jon Ronson in which he explores the concept of psychopathy.-Primary themes:...
Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson is a Welsh journalist, documentary filmmaker, radio presenter and nonfiction author, whose works include The Men Who Stare At Goats. His journalism and columns have appeared in British publications including The Guardian newspaper, City Life and Time Out magazine...
where Jon asserts Toto is in fact psychopathic according to the Bob Hare
Robert Hare (psychologist)
Robert D. Hare, C.M. , is a researcher in the field of criminal psychology. He developed the Psychopathy Checklist and Psychopathy Checklist Revised , used to diagnose cases of psychopathy and also useful in predicting the likelihood of violent behavior...
Psychopathy Checklist
Hare Psychopathy Checklist
In contemporary research and clinical practice, Robert D. Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised is the psycho-diagnostic tool most commonly used to assess psychopathy...
.
External links
- Underreported: Emmanuel "Toto" Constant The Leonard Lopate Show WNYCWNYCWNYC is a set of call letters shared by a pair of co-owned, non-profit, public radio stations located in New York City.WNYC broadcasts on the AM band at 820 kHz, and WNYC-FM is at 93.9 MHz. Both stations are members of National Public Radio and carry distinct, but similar news/talk programs...
- To His Compatriots’ Relief, Haitian Exile Is Arrested
- A Haitian Set for Deportation Is Instead Set Free by the U.S.
- Haitian Ex-Paramilitary Leader Confirms C.I.A. Relationship
- Giving "The Devil" His Due
- Haitian Death Squad Leader Arrested in US - For Mortgage Fraud
- Emmanuel Constant section on HaitiJustice.org
- The Posada of Haiti