Evidence presented during trial revealed that from March to November 2021, Germine, Tunis, and two other co-defendants collaborated with each other and other gang members in Haiti to procure and supply firearms to the 400 Mawozo gang.
Joly Germine, aged 31 and hailing from Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, who identified himself as the "King" of the notoriously violent Haitian gang known as 400 Mawozo, entered a guilty plea yesterday for his involvement in a conspiracy to smuggle firearms to Haiti in violation of U.S. export laws. Additionally, he admitted to participating in the laundering of ransoms paid for U.S. hostages to the gang in 2021.
This illicit scheme involved the procurement of at least 24 firearms in the United States, which included AK-47s, AR-15s, an M4 Carbine rifle, an M1A rifle, and a .50 caliber rifle classified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as a military-grade weapon.
These weapons were then clandestinely transported from the United States to the gang in Haiti to support their criminal operations. Co-defendant Eliande Tunis, aged 45 from Pompano Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty to the same charges on January 17.
“Mr. Germain, a leader of a notorious Haitian gang, admitted to an illegal gun-running scheme to arm fellow gang members with U.S. firearms in support of the group’s violent crime spree across Haiti, including the alleged 2021 kidnapping of 14 U.S. citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Justice Department will aggressively pursue every tool at its disposal to hold accountable those who would smuggle U.S.-origin weapons and other controlled goods for the benefit of malicious actors and their criminal enterprises.”
“Violent gangs have ravaged Haiti, and all too often, Americans in Haiti have been targets of their violence,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “These two defendants not only helped lead a prominent violent gang in Haiti, but they were also intimately involved in arming the gang and laundering ransom proceeds the gang obtained from kidnapping Americans. Preventing them from illegally shipping anymore firearms or laundering the proceeds of kidnappings strikes a critical blow against the gang they once led.”
“Violent, well-armed gangs pose an ongoing threat to U.S. Citizens who live in or travel to Haiti,” said Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI Miami Field Office. “As Joly Germine and Eliande Tunis have just learned, the FBI is dedicated to disrupting and dismantling gangs who undertake hostage-taking of U.S. Citizens anywhere. This includes taking away their ability to wreak violence on the innocent using smuggled firearms.”
The plea was entered following the conclusion of the government's presentation of evidence during trial, which included testimony from 24 witnesses and spanned two weeks. Joly Germine, a Haitian national, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before Judge John D. Bates to charges outlined in the 48-count second superseding indictment.
These charges included conspiracy to violate U.S. export control laws and defraud the United States, as well as counts related to violating export control laws, smuggling, and laundering proceeds from ransoms paid to free U.S. hostages held by the gang, and further laundering money to support criminal activities. He faces a potential life sentence when he appears for sentencing on May 15.
Germine's co-defendant and former partner, Tunis, who referred to herself as his "wife" and was characterized as the "Queen" during trial, also pleaded guilty on January 17, to the same 48-count indictment. She is likewise facing a potential life sentence and is scheduled for sentencing on May 8. Another co-defendant, Jocelyn Dor, aged 31, who acted as a straw purchaser of firearms for Germine and Tunis, previously pleaded guilty on October 30, 2023, and is awaiting sentencing on February 28.
Evidence presented during trial revealed that from March to November 2021, Germine, Tunis, and two other co-defendants collaborated with each other and other gang members in Haiti to procure and supply firearms to the 400 Mawozo gang. Operating from a Haitian prison using unmonitored cell phones, Germine directed gang activities, including instructing members in Haiti to transfer funds to Tunis and others in the U.S. for firearms acquisition.
Germine provided specifications for firearms and ammunition desired by the gang leaders to Tunis and two other Florida residents, who then purchased firearms from Florida gun shops, falsely claiming to be the actual buyers when they were, in fact, acting as straw purchasers for Germine. Tunis smuggled firearms and ammunition to Haiti in disguised containers, and although additional firearms were shipped in October 2021, they were seized by the FBI before leaving the U.S.
400 Mawozo, a violent Haitian gang, operated primarily in the Croix-des-Bouquets area near Port-au-Prince. The gang was involved in armed hostage takings of U.S. citizens in Haiti, typically through forced vehicle stops and subsequent negotiations for ransom payments. Ransom proceeds were mixed with the gang's funds and transferred from the U.S. to Haiti via MoneyGram and Western Union to purchase more firearms.
In late 2021, the gang claimed responsibility for the hostage-taking of 16 U.S. citizens, including five children, and one Canadian citizen. The hostages, part of a missionary group visiting an orphanage in Port-au-Prince, were released or escaped by December 16, 2021. The present case does not address these hostage-taking charges, for which Germine is separately indicted.
The FBI Miami Field Office led the investigation, with support from the ATF and the Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement. Assistance was provided by the Haitian government, particularly the Haitian National Police, as well as the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs, the Diplomatic Security Service of the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida's Special Prosecutions Section.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen P. Seifert and Kimberly Paschall, along with Paralegal Specialist Jorge Casillas for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorney Beau Barnes of the National Security Division's Counter intelligence and Export Control Section, are prosecuting the case.
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