Quebec man sentenced to five years for trying to overthrow Haitian government

MONTREAL — A Quebec man found guilty of attempting to foment an armed revolution to overthrow the government of Haiti has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Gérald Nicolas was sentenced at the Quebec City courthouse by Superior Court Justice Louis Dionne.

Nicolas was found guilty by a jury in March on all three counts he was facing following an investigation by the RCMP.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada says Nicolas in 2020 and 2021 left Canada to facilitate a terrorist activity against the Haitian government of former president Jovenel Moïse.

A trial heard he had travelled to the Dominican Republic and Haiti to recruit collaborators, obtain firearms, and that he leased land near the Haitian border to establish a base of operations.

Nicolas, 54, of Lévis, Que., just south of Quebec City, was charged in 2022 with leaving Canada to facilitate a terrorist activity, facilitating a terrorist activity, and providing property for terrorist purposes.

The first two counts carried maximum 14-year sentences, while the third carried a maximum 10-year sentence.

At the time of his November 2022 arrest, the RCMP made clear that Nicolas’s case was not related to the July 2021 assassination of Moise at his private home near the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

George Dolhai, director of public prosecutions, said in a statement on Wednesday the case highlights a conspiracy to undermine the stability of a foreign government and says anyone who resorts to such acts, whether in Canada or abroad, will be brought to justice.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2025.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press