A Quebec court has sentenced 54-year-old Gérald Nicolas to five years in prison after a jury found him guilty of conspiring to incite an armed revolution against the government of Haiti during the presidency of Jovenel Moïse. The sentence, delivered on October 1 by Superior Court Justice Louis Dionne at the Quebec City courthouse, marks a major win for Canadian authorities targeting international terrorism plots planned from within the country.
Nicolas, a resident of Lévis, Quebec, was convicted in March 2025 on three terrorism-related charges: leaving Canada to facilitate a terrorist activity, facilitating a terrorist activity, and providing property for terrorist purposes. Each offense carries severe penalties — up to 14 years in prison for the first two counts and 10 years for the third.
According to prosecutors, between 2020 and 2021, Nicolas made several trips from Canada to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where he allegedly sought collaborators, acquired weapons, raised funds, and rented land near the border to establish a base of operations. The plan’s ultimate goal was to overthrow Moïse’s administration through violent means.
While the court found no direct connection between Nicolas’s activities and the assassination of President Moïse in July 2021, investigators described the case as a stark reminder of Haiti’s ongoing political instability and the complex role of its diaspora in the nation’s turbulent landscape.
Following the sentencing, representatives from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Public Safety Canada issued a joint statement underscoring the broader significance of the conviction.
“This outcome sends a clear and strong message that Canada will not tolerate the planning or facilitation of violent actions against foreign governments, even when organized from our soil,” an RCMP spokesperson said.
The case stemmed from a 2022 investigation that led to Nicolas’s arrest at age 51. After just over three hours of jury deliberation earlier this year, he was found guilty on all counts. The ruling highlights both the transnational dimensions of Haiti’s political crisis and Canada’s ongoing efforts to combat terrorism linked to international conflicts.
