Haitian National Sentenced to 108 Months’ Imprisonment and a $1,000,000 Fine as Leader of International Cocaine-Trafficking Conspiracy

Richard G. Frohling, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on September 18, 2025, Jean Eliobert Jasme, a/k/a "ED1," "Eddy One," and "Tio Loco" (age: 63) of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison, 4 years of supervised release, and a $1,000,000 fine after having pled guilty to conspiring to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, intending, knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe the cocaine would be unlawfully imported into the United States, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 963, 959(a), and 960(b)(2)(B).

According to court documents, between February 2019 and March 2022, Jasme arranged to smuggle bulk quantities of cocaine along routes that led to the United States. Jasme, an established Caribbean-based cocaine smuggler, operated primarily in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and caused cocaine to be transported from Colombia or Venezuela to Haiti or the Dominican Republic and then to the Bahamas and the United States. Jasme had personnel, planes, and boats readily available to move cocaine along these routes. For his services, Jasme charged a commission, which varied between 25% and 30% of the cocaine load. In early 2022, Jasme was arranging the shipment of up to 4,000 kilograms (over 8,800 pounds) of cocaine from Colombia to the Bahamas through Haiti using a Beechcraft King Air C90 aircraft. In a message to his Colombian cocaine broker, Jasme said:

"You know, 4000 [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 4000 [kilograms] here [i.e., Haiti]. In three months, I tell you, three months, the maximum of four months, put four thousand [kilograms] again . . .. I have people who are waiting for work, who are waiting for food [i.e., cocaine]. Big people who are buying for 500 [kilograms], 400 [kilograms], buying a thousand [kilograms], so you know."

Law enforcement intervened before Jasme completed this shipment, and in March 2022, Jasme was arrested by the Haitian National Police and ultimately expelled to the United States to face prosecution.

The DEA Port-au-Prince Country Office and the Milwaukee DEA Field Office investigated this case. The Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs and the Haitian National Government, including the Haitian Ministry of Justice, the Haitian National Police and La Brigade de Lutte contre le Trafic de Stupéfiants (BLTS), provided assistance in this matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Robert J. Brady, Jr. and Gail J. Hoffman of the Eastern District of Wisconsin prosecuted the case.

# # #

For further information contact:

Public Affairs Officer Steve Caballero

(414) 297-1700

Follow us on X