The United States announced criminal charges against Haitian gang leader and former police officer Jimmy Barbeque Cherizier and a North Carolina man on Tuesday for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions.

One of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders, Jimmy Chérizier, known as "Barbecue," has openly challenged U.S. authorities after being indicted by a federal grand jury for violating sanctions and financing gang operations in the crisis-ridden Caribbean nation.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted one of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders and a U.S. citizen accused of conspiring with him to violate U.S. sanctions and fund gang activities in the troubled Caribbean country, the U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday.