Eight of the 10 American missionaries accused of kidnapping a group of Haitian children were freed Wednesday, and boarded a plane for the United States.
The group flew back to Miami on a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane, according to American officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Earlier on Wednesday, the judge hearing the missionaries' case said all but two members of the group could leave the country, without conditions.
However, Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said he still wanted to interview the group's leader, Laura Silsby, and Charisa Coulter about a visit they made to Haiti in December, before the earthquake struck.
The Baptist missionaries travelled to Haiti following the devastating Jan. 12 quake. They allegedly attempted to take the children, without the proper documents, to an orphanage they were setting up in neighbouring Dominican Republic on Jan. 29.
Instead they were arrested and charged with child endangerment and criminal association and have been held by Haitian authorities for nearly three weeks.
Most of the missionaries are from two churches in Idaho. They have said they were not engaged in child trafficking but were on a humanitarian mission to save children affected by the quake.
Silsby originally said they only took orphaned or abandoned children. However, it turned out that several of the children had parents who willingly handed them over to the group, in the hopes they would have a chance at a better life.
Meanwhile, U.S. Marshals are hunting for an accused human smuggler who recently acted as a legal adviser for the jailed missionaries and who previously lived in Canada.
They are looking for Jorge Puello, a 32-year-old U.S.-born man who entered the public spotlight following the missionaries' arrest.
Within days of their arrest, Puello presented himself to the public as a lawyer representing the jailed group. He brought them food, medicine and offered legal assistance, until it was revealed that he did not hold a licence to practice law.
A lawyer for nine of the defendants, Aviol Fleurant, said Puello absconded with the legal fees that he collected from the accused Americans' relatives.
"He was supposed to give me $40,000 and he gave me $10,000 and he stole $30,000 and he disappeared," Fleurant said.
After it was revealed last week that Puello was not a registered lawyer in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, the New York Times reported that he resembled an accused human trafficker who was wanted in El Salvador.
Puello initially denied that he had any connection to human trafficking and said he had never been to El Salvador. But he has since admitted that he is the same person and he called The Associated Press to indicate that he is preparing to return to El Salvador to fight the charges against him.
"The whole world will know I am innocent," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from a location he claimed was in Panama.
In El Salvador, police said Puello would be detained once he steps foot inside the country on charges of leading a trafficking ring dedicated to prostituting Central American and Caribbean girls and women.
Puello also admitted to The Associated Press that he was named in a 2003 federal indictment in Vermont, which names him as "Jorge Torres" and accuses him of smuggling illegal immigrants from Canada into the U.S.
Puello says he is innocent of the accusations and claims to have been working undercover for U.S. authorities at the time. Law enforcement officials say they have not yet confirmed that Puello is Torres, though they confirmed the case is open.
"Mr. Torres was a fugitive in Canada and the United States has requested his extradition," said Tristram Coffin, the U.S. Attorney for Vermont.
"We've always been interested in him. We remain interested in fugitives when they flee."
U.S. authorities say they are questioning his acquaintances as they search for him.
"We are on the hunt," said Steve Blando, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service in Washington.
Dominican police say they, too, are looking for Puello, working with Interpol to track him down.
Puello has faced other legal troubles in the United States, prior to his indictment in Vermont.
Court documents reveal that Puello was convicted of theft of U.S. government property in 1999. He received a sentence of six months and five years probation. In 2001, a court found that he violated his parole and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
With files from The Associated Press
