Indictments
Project Nassau
1967
[NOTE:
An amended complaint was filed
which dropped Mitchell Werbell. He was dropped
because a "third"
agency had a wire tap on him and the prosecutors believed
the others
would make the jury believe a wire tap was on everyone.]
Typed: 2/23/67
Clifton F. Sessions
Acting Director of Public Information
J. Walter Yeagley
Assistant Attorney General
Internal Security Division
INDICTMENT OF ROLANDO MASFERRER ROJAS, ET AL
It is anticipated that a two-count indictment will be
returned against
Rolando Masferrer and six other defendants by a Federal
grant jury at
Miami, Florida, on February 27, 1967. The defendants
were among
the 75 persons arrested at Marathon, Florida, on January 2,
1967, by
Bureau of Customs agents as they were preparing to embark on
an
invasion of Haiti. Since that date the defendants have
been at
liberty on their personal recognizance.
In addition, to Masferrer, the indictment will name as
defendants: Jean
Baptiste Georges, Antonio Leon Rojas, Rene Juares Leon,
Julio Aton
Constanzo Palau, Martin Francis Xavier Casey and Mitchell
Livingston
Wer Bell. It will charge the above named defendants
with
conspiring to launch a military expedition from the United
States
against the Republic of Haiti in violation of 18 U.S.C.
960. It
will also charge all of the defendants, with the exception
of Wer Bell,
with attempting to export arms and munitions from the United
States
without a State Department license, in violation of 22
U.S.C. 1934.
The first count of the indictment will allege that from in
or about
May, 1966, up to and including January 2, 1967, the
defendants
conspired with each other and with other persons, some of
whom are
named as co-conspirators, to assemble armed men and military
equipment
in the Southern District of Florida and to cause these men
and their
arms and military equipment to be transported from the
United States
for the purpose of launching a military expedition against
the Republic
of Haiti. The Second count will charge six of the
defendants with
the attempted exportation of these weapons from Coco Plum
Beach,
Florida on January 2, 1967.
Records
Mr. Morris
Mr. Davitt
Mr. Yeagley
Section Copy
Complimentary Copy
-----------------
page 2
Each of the named defendants could be sentenced to a maximum
term of
five years imprisonment and a fine of $10,000 for a
violation of the
conspiracy charge, and a maximum term of two years and a
$25,000 fine
for violation of the attempted exportation charge.
Rolando Masferrer Rojas is a Cuban citizen, who was admitted
into the
United States in a parole status in 1959. A former
Senator in the
Batista Government, he was born on January 12, 1918 and
currently
resides in Miami, Florida.
Father Jean Baptiste Georges is a Catholic priest and a
citizen of
Haiti. He was born on November 1, 1919, and is a
former Minister
of Education of Haiti. His current address is 718 SW
Fourth
Street, Miami, Florida.
Antonio Leon Rojas is a Cuban citizen. He was born on
June 12,
1914 and currently resides at 1152 SW 15th Avenue, Miami,
Florida.
Rene Juares Leon is a Haitian citizen who was born on March
22, 1934
and currently resides at 89-12 Elmhurst Avenue, Apartment
328,
Elmhurst, Long Island, New York. He was allegedly a
Commander in
the Palace guard of the Maglorie Government of Haiti.
He attended
Military Officers Training School at Ft. Benning, Georgia in
1956.
Julio Aton Constanzo Palau is a Cuban citizen. He was
born on May
22, 1936 and currently resides at 752 SW Fourth Street,
Miami, Florida.
Mitchell Livingston Well Bell is an American citizen who was
born on
March 8, 1918, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He
currently
resides at Powder Springs, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, and
is
self-employed in public relations work.
Martin Francis Xavier Casey is an American citizen. He
was born
on August 8, 1938 and currently resides at 1925 SW Fourth
Street,
Miami, Florida.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Bureau
of Customs.
A copy of the proposed indictment will be forwarded to you
in the
morning. It is contemplated that the Government will
begin
presenting its evidence to the grand jury at that time.
End of Page
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