NY jury convicts ex-Haitian strongman of fraud

A former Haitian paramilitary leader who has been branded a ruthless killer by human rights groups was convicted Friday of helping hatch a mortgage fraud scheme that cheated lenders out of $1.7 million. A state jury found Emmanuel "Toto" Constant guilty of fraud and grand larceny. Constant faces up to 15 years in prison at sentencing in September. The verdict "exposes him for the crook that he is," said Jennie Green, a Center for Constitutional Rights attorney who monitored the trial. "Hopefully, we will be able to expose him for the human rights violator he is." Defense attorney Samuel Karliner afterward said Constant had been forced to go to trial "for political reasons." His client, who testified in his own defense, was disappointed by the verdict and still "believes he didn't do anything wrong," the lawyer added.... [read full story]