MIAMI, April 21 (UPI) -- The former commander of investigations for the Haitian National Police has pleaded guilty in Miami of accepting protection money from drug traffickers.
Rudy Therassan, 40, made the plea before U.S. District Judge Donald Graham, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Thursday.
Therassan admitted taking the $760,000 in bribes and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution, hoping to reduce his sentence, which carries a minimum of 10 years.
Sentencing was set for June 15.
Federal prosecutor Lynn Kirkpatrick said in court Wednesday that Therassan was one of several police officials who helped Colombian drug smugglers unload a ton of cocaine from planes allowed to land on a Haitian highway.
She said the cocaine was then shipped to the United States.
Therassan was among seven Haitian police officials arrested last year in an investigation of drug smuggling during the administration of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Therassan also agreed to forfeit property and other items he bought with the money.
