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Their outlandish plan allegedly involved enlisting an army of homeless mercenaries, officials said
Brendan RasciusIn New YorkFriday 21 November 2025 16:47 GMT
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Two Texas men allegedly hatched an outlandish scheme to conquer a Caribbean island with an army of homeless mercenaries and abduct the women and children to force them to live as sex slaves.
The men — 21-year-old Gavin Rivers Weisenburg and 20-year-old Tanner Christopher Thomas — were indicted by a federal grand jury, officials announced.
They were charged with conspiracy to murder, maim, or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography. If convicted, they could face life in prison.
According to prosecutors, the men, both of whom live in the Dallas area, began masterminding their bizarre plan in August 2024.
Their alleged goal was to take over Gonave — a tropical island of about 100,000 people located roughly 30 miles from Port-au-Prince — in order to carry out “rape fantasies.”
open image in galleryThe suspects allegedly plotted to conquer a Caribbean island with an army of mercenaries in order to take women and children as sex slaves, officials said. (Collin County Sheriff's Office)The plot involved buying a sailboat, weapons and ammunition and recruiting homeless people in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area “to serve as a mercenary force.”
Once reaching the shore, they intended to stage a coup d’etat, murder every man on the island and force the women and children there into sex slavery, prosecutors said.
They allegedly took numerous steps to make their grandiose scheme a reality, including learning Creole, the dominant language in Haiti. Thomas even went as far as enlisting in the Air Force to obtain the necessary military skills.
open image in galleryThe two men looked to take over a small island that is part of Haiti, prosecutors said. (AFP via Getty Images)Both men were also charged with the production of child pornography.
If found guilty of conspiring to commit murder abroad, they each face a possible life sentence. And, if convicted on child pornography charges, both could face up to three decades in prison.
The investigation involved multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Celina Police Department in Texas.
Attorneys for the pair could not be contacted by The Independent.
