WASHINGTON, CMC – The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) says Joly Germine, described as the “King” of a violent Haitian gang, has been sentenced to 420 months in prison for his role in a gunrunning conspiracy that smuggled firearms to Haiti in violation of US export laws.
The DOJ said Germine, 31, of Croix-des-Bouquets, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was also jailed for laundering of ransoms paid for US hostages held by the notorious Haitian gang, “400 Mawozo”.
“A leader of the Haitian gang known as 400 Mawozo will now spend 35 years in prison for a scheme to smuggle guns from the United States to Haiti using the proceeds extorted from kidnapping American citizens,” said US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.
“The leaders of violent gangs in Haiti that terrorize American citizens to fuel their criminal activity will be met with the full force of the Justice Department,” he added.
The DOJ said that Eliande Tunis, 46, of Pompano Beach, Florida, who styled herself as Germine’s “wife” and was described at trial as the “Queen” of 400 Mawozo, was sentenced on June 5 to 150 months in prison for her role in the conspiracy.
It said two other defendants in the conspiracy were also sentenced to jail time for their involvement.
The DOJ said the conspiracy resulted in the purchase in the United States of at least 24 firearms, including weapons designed for the military and close-quarters combat such as AK-47s, AR-15s, an M4 Carbine rifle, an M1A rifle, and a .50 caliber rifle, which were smuggled from the United States to the gang in Haiti “to further their criminal activities.
“Those firearms were bought using funds laundered from the proceeds of the hostage-taking for ransom of US citizens in Haiti in 2021,” the DOJ said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said Germine is “being held accountable for his role in smuggling weapons into Haiti using funds laundered from the ransoms of kidnapped American citizens.
“The 400 Mawazo gang not only wreaks havoc in its communities but targets innocent Americans living and traveling in Haiti.
“The FBI will continue to work with our partners to target the leadership and take down any violent criminal group who preys upon Americans abroad and uses unlawful and dangerous tactics like weapons trafficking and kidnapping to further their criminal enterprise,” he added.
Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Steven Dettelbach, said that “firearms smuggling is not a victimless crime.
“Just like these weapons, many guns smuggled to Haiti end up in the hands of violent gangs. Those gangs use them to harm both Haitians and American citizens. As this sentence demonstrates, ATF is committed to working with our law enforcement partners both at home and internationally to hold gun smugglers responsible.”
According to court documents, Germine pleaded guilty on January 31 to the 48-count second superseding indictment, which charged him with conspiring to violate US export control laws and to defraud the United States, violating export control laws, smuggling and laundering the proceeds of ransoms paid to free US hostages taken by the gang, and laundering money to promote his crimes.
The DOJ said Germine’s plea came at the end of the government’s case at trial, which included the testimony of 24 witnesses and two weeks of evidence.
Germine’s co-defendant Tunis, who had a supervisory role in the conspiracy, pleaded guilty, on the eve of trial on January 17, to the same 48-count indictment and was sentenced on June 5 to 150 months in prison, the DOJ said.
It said other co-defendants, Jocelyn Dor, 31, and Walder St. Louis, 35, who acted as straw gun purchasers for Germine and Tunis, both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 60 months and 36 months, respectively, for their roles in the gun-smuggling and money laundering scheme.
According to evidence presented at trial, from at least March through November 2021, Germine, Tunis, and two co-defendants conspired with each other and with other gang members in Haiti to acquire and supply firearms to the 400 Mawozo gang in Haiti.
The DOJ said Germine directed the gang’s operations from a Haitian prison using unmonitored cell phones, including directing gang members in Haiti to transfer money to Tunis and others in the United States to obtain firearms for the gang.
The DOJ said Germine then provided Tunis and the two other US-based co-defendants, all Florida residents, with specifications for firearms and ammunition that Germine and other gang leaders wanted to be sent to Haiti.
It said Tunis and the two co-defendants then purchased at least 24 rifles, handguns, and a shotgun at Florida gun shops while falsely stating that they were the “actual buyers” of the firearms “when they were acting as straw purchasers for Germine.”
The DOJ said in May 2021, Tunis smuggled firearms and ammunition to Haiti in containers disguised as food and household goods. In October 2021, Tunis attempted to ship additional weapons and ammunition to Haiti, again by smuggling the firearms, but the FBI seized those firearms before they left the United States.
The DOJ said 400 Mawozo is a violent Haitian gang that operated in the Croix-des-Bouquets area to the east of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
From at least January 12, 2020, the DOJ said 400 Mawozo were engaged in armed hostage takings of US citizens in Haiti for ransom.
“The victims have generally been forced from their vehicles at gunpoint and kept in various locations by armed gang members while their relatives and colleagues negotiate payment for their release,” the DOJ said.
At trial, it said the government presented evidence that the gang received ransom payments from the hostage-taking of three US citizens in the summer of 2021, who testified at trial. The cash ransom proceeds were commingled with the gang’s funds and transferred via MoneyGram and Western Union from the United States to Haiti to buy more firearms.
In the fall of 2021, the DOJ said 400 Mawozo gang claimed responsibility for taking 16 US citizens hostage, including five children and one Canadian citizen who was part of a missionary organization visiting an orphanage in Port-au-Prince.
The DOJ said the gang demanded a ransom of US$1 million for each hostage and that the hostages were all released or had escaped by on or about December 16, 2021.
The DOJ said while Germine has been charged in a separate indictment about that hostage-taking incident, Monday’s sentencing does not address those charges, “which are lodged in case number 22-cr-161 in the US District Court for the District of Columbia”.
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