US EditionAlleged gang leader is sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping of 17 missionaries in Haiti
Joly Germine, leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, was convicted for kidnapping 17 missionaries, including five children, with an initial ransom demand of $17 million.
- U.S. District Judge John Bates sentenced Joly Germine to life in prison on December 3, 2025, for orchestrating the Oct. 16, 2021 kidnapping of 17 victims near Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
- Prosecutors say the kidnappings aimed to secure Germine's release and demanded a $17,000,000 ransom, while Germine's defense attorneys deny his leadership and say he helped local farmers.
- Court records and charges show the U.S. prosecution began after Joly Germine's transfer in May 2022; prosecutors allege he ran the `400 Mawozo` gang from prison using unmonitored cellphones, and a jury convicted him earlier this year.
- Judge John Bates said Germine showed no remorse or acceptance of responsibility, prosecutors sought life, and family member Ray Noecker told Germine, `True freedom is not found outside of prison walls. True freedom is found inside your own heart.`
- The case also involved very young victims, including an 8-month-old child, and Germine was separately convicted last year in a plot to smuggle semiautomatic firearms from the U.S. to Haiti; all hostages were released or escaped.
28 Articles
28 Articles
Haitian Gang Leader Joly "Yonyon" Germine Sentenced To Life For Kidnapping 16 American Missionaries
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief (Worthy News) – Joly “Yonyon” Germine, the former leader of Haiti’s notorious 400 Mawozo gang, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to life in prison without the possibility of supervised release for orchestrating the 2021 kidnapping of 16 American missionaries–five of them children–from Christian Aid Ministries. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced the sentence, calling…
Haitian Gang Boss Sentenced to Life for Masterminding Kidnap of Christian Missionaries
The former head of the notorious Haitian gang 400 Mawozo was sentenced to life imprisonment by a U.S. court on Wednesday for masterminding the 2021 kidnapping of a group of American Christian missionaries. Joly “Yonyon” Germine, 34, was found guilty in May of 16 counts of kidnapping a U.S. national for ransom and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Germine has been in U.S. cu…
Former 400 Mawozo gang leader sentenced to life for kidnapping 16 US missionaries
A federal judge sentenced Haitian gang leader Joly Germine to life in prison on Tuesday for orchestrating the 2021 kidnapping of 16 American missionaries in Haiti, a case that has come to symbolize the growing reach of Haiti’s gang violence and the intensifying U.S. response. Germine, 34, known as “Yonyon,” was the self-described “king” of the 400 Mawozo gang, which operated in the Croix-des-Bouquets area east of Port-au-Prince. He was convicted…
Haitian Gang Leader Sentenced To Life In Prisoin In The U.S. For Kidnapping Missionaires, Including a Baby
Germine Joly, leader of Haitian gang 400 Mawozo, has been sentenced to life in federal prison without parole for his role in the kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizens, including an eight-month old baby.
Gang leader sentenced to life in U.S. for 2021 abduction of American missionaries
A Haitian gang leader was sentenced to life in federal prison for directing the 2021 abduction of 16 American missionaries in Haiti, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The sentence was handed down on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., where 34-year-old Joly Germine of Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, received life without the possibility of supervised release. Germine was convicted by a federal jur…
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