A federal grand jury has indicted one of Haiti's most powerful gang leaders and a U.S. citizen for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions and fund gang activities.

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.

He heads the group Viv Ansanm, which controls much of Haiti's capital and is accused of multiple murders, kidnappings and attacks on infrastructure.