US jury convicts Haitian national who bit ICE officers on aircraft

CMC – The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says a federal jury in San Antonio, Texas on Friday convicted a Haitian national for biting officers on an aircraft bound for Haiti.

ICE said Jubenson Domenique, 29, was convicted of two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees and inflicting bodily injury.

The jury also convicted Domenique of one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees involving physical contact.

ICE said its Office of Professional and Responsibility (OPR) conducted the investigation that led to the man’s conviction.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, ICE officers were loading 112 Haitian nationals onto a contract aircraft in San Antonio bound for Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, in September 2021, when several individuals were involved in a disturbance in the middle section of the aircraft.

ICE said Domenique was identified as the main instigator of the disturbance and a decision was made for three officers to remove him from the aircraft.

During Domenique’s extraction from the aircraft, “he bit the officers, breaking skin and leaving teeth marks on all three,” ICE said.

“Emergency medical services responded, and one officer was treated at a local hospital, provided prescriptions, and began treatment and testing for possible infections, including six months of HIV treatment,” he added.

“This guilty verdict sends a strong message that this type of egregious behaviour will not be tolerated,” said OPR Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Huerta. “Protecting our ICE employees is paramount. All assaults or threats against our employees will be aggressively investigated, and criminal charges initiated whenever possible, such as in this case.”

Domenique faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of inflicting bodily injury and eight years in prison for the third count. ]]>