Two men from North Texas have been indicted by federal prosecutors on charges alleging a violent plan to seize control of Gonave Island in Haiti.
The Justice Department identified the defendants as Gavin Weisenburg, 21, of Allen, and Tanner Thomas, 20, of Argyle. According to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the men and unnamed co-conspirators plotted to kill the island’s male population and to capture and enslave women and children for sexual exploitation.
“The co-conspirators conducted research, reconnaissance, recruiting, planning, and sought training to effectuate their plan,” the indictment says. It adds: “It was the goal of the conspiracy to take military control of the Island of Gonave by murdering all the men on the island and capturing all the women.”
Both men face federal charges of conspiring to kill or kidnap persons in a foreign country and are also charged with producing child pornography. The conspiracy charge carries a possible life sentence; the child pornography count carries a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison.
Attorneys for each defendant said their clients will plead not guilty. David Finn, who represents Weisenburg, told NPR he expects a not-guilty plea and warned that the government’s public statements, while based on some facts, could be misleading. John Helms, Thomas’s lawyer, said his client will also plead not guilty and will be vigorously defended.
Prosecutors allege planning began in August 2024 and that the group communicated on social media, studied Haitian Creole, researched weapons and ammunition including military-style rifles, and explored transporting firearms, ammunition and explosives by sailboat. Weisenburg is accused of traveling to Thailand to enroll in sailing school as preparation for purchasing a vessel to voyage to Haiti.
The indictment further alleges that Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in January 2025 to obtain military training useful to the planned attack, and that he changed his basic training assignment from Ramstein Air Base to Joint Base Andrews in March to facilitate recruitment efforts in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors also say the defendants planned to recruit and hire homeless people from the capital to assist in the seizure.
Weisenburg is said to have enrolled in the North Texas Fire Academy in Rockwall in August 2024 to train for the operation but failed out nearly six months later, the filing states.
Gonave Island is located about 30 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince and has an estimated population of roughly 87,000 people.