Haiti gang leader denies ties to 400 Mawozo group, or role in kidnapping U.S. missionaries

Shirsho Dasgupta and Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald on May 14, 2025

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Germine Joly, the Haitian gang leader who ran a gunrunning conspiracy and kidnapping racket from the inside of a Haitian jail, denied any gang affiliation or role in the kidnapping of 16 U.S. missionaries as he took the stand in his own defense on Wednesday inside a Washington federal courtroom.

Joly, wearing a black suit, tie and eyeglasses, said he was neither a member of the 400 Mawozo gang nor created the criminal armed group, which in 2021 took responsibility for the abduction of 16 U.S. citizens and a Canadian national with Ohio-based Christian Aid Missionaries. The missionaries were grabbed at gunpoint on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince after returning from visiting an orphanage.

While some of the hostages were released after a few days in captivity, the majority of them were held for two months and freed after an undisclosed ransom was paid. Their release was made to look like an escape by the gang, which is being accused of abducting the missionaries, including five children, as a bargaining chip to help secure Joly’s release from a Haitian prison.

Known as “Yonyon,” Joly pleaded guilty last year to a 48-count indictment related to weapons smuggling and money laundering where the proceeds from kidnapping ransoms were used to purchase automatic rifles. The guns were bought in Florida from several of the gang’s associates and were later smuggled to Haiti, where they were used by 400 Mawozo in various criminal enterprises including extortion, killings and kidnappings.

As a result of his guilty plea, Joly was sentenced to 35 years in a U.S. prison by the same U.S. District Judge John D. Bates who is now presiding over his current federal trial, where he’s charged with 16 counts of kidnapping.

During his testimony Wednesday, he insisted he had no business with 400 Mawozo other than gun sales and that he was neither a member nor a creator of the criminal group, now part of a powerful gang coalition in Haiti. Joly said cousins of his, including Lanmò Sanjou, were members.

The current head of the gang, Lanmò Sanjou, aka Joseph Wilson, is among several gang leaders wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his role in the kidnappings of U.S. citizens in Haiti.

Joly’s repeated denial of his gang affiliation, and text messages the federal government presented as evidence to show his ties to illicit weapons smuggling from Florida and his relations with 400 Mawozo, led prosecutors to delay closing arguments and present a rebuttal witness on Thursday. Closing arguments in the trial are now expected Thursday.

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