The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas announced charges against two men on Thursday who allegedly plotted to invade a Haitian island, murder all of the men, and take the women and children as sex slaves.
In a Thursday press release, U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs confirmed that two men from Texas had been “charged in relation to a plot that included invading an island off Haiti, murdering the men on the island, and using the women and children as sex slaves.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas explained that 21-year-old Gavin Rivers Weisenburg and 20-year-old Tanner Christopher Thomas were charged by a federal grand jury in a two-count indictment with the production of child pornography and with conspiracy to murder, maim, or kidnap in a foreign country.
According to the press release, Weisenburg and Thomas allegedly plotted to “recruit and lead an unlawful expeditionary force to the Island of Gonave, which is part of the Republic of Haiti, for the purpose of carrying out their rape fantasies.”
Federal officials claimed that the two Texas men planned to buy firearms, ammunition, and a sailboat before recruiting homeless individuals in the District of Columbia area to form a mercenary force, invade Haiti’s Gonave Island, and stage a coup.
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“Weisenburg and Thomas intended to murder all of the men on the island so that they could then turn all of the women and children into their sex slaves,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas stated.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas accused Weisenburg and Thomas of committing “numerous overt acts” to further their plan to invade the Haitian island, including learning the Haitian Creole language, forming operational and logistical plans, enrolling in schools to gain the skills necessary to complete their invasion plan, and recruiting other individuals to help them invade the Haitian island. The press release noted that Thomas also enlisted in the U.S. Air Force to gain military skills as part of the plot.
According to Thursday’s press release, Weisenburg and Thomas could face up to life in federal prison if the two men are convicted of conspiring to commit murder in a foreign country.
In addition to the kidnapping and murder conspiracy charge, the two Texas men were also charged with producing child pornography. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas noted that Weisenburg and Thomas could face between 15 and 30 years in federal prison if they are convicted of producing child pornography.
