(Le Floridien) – On May 16, 2025, a federal jury in Washington, D.C., found Joly Germine, 32, guilty of orchestrating the 2021 kidnapping of 16 American Christian missionaries and one Canadian in Haiti. Germine, known as “Yonyon,” was the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, which held the victims hostage for 62 days.
The missionaries, affiliated with Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, included five children aged 8 months to 6 years. They were abducted on October 16, 2021, while returning from visiting an orphanage. The gang demanded $1 million per hostage or Germine’s release from prison. While some hostages were released after a $350,000 ransom payment, others escaped captivity on December 16, 2021.
Germine, despite being incarcerated in Haiti since 2014 and sentenced to life in 2018, continued to direct gang operations from prison using unmonitored cell phones. He was extradited to the U.S. in 2022 and previously pleaded guilty to weapons smuggling and laundering ransom money, receiving a 35-year sentence. His latest conviction includes one count of conspiracy to commit hostage-taking and 16 counts of hostage-taking of U.S. nationals for ransom.
The 400 Mawozo gang, operating in the Croix-des-Bouquets area near Port-au-Prince, remains active under the leadership of Joseph Wilson, also known as “Lanmò San Jou.” The gang is allied with the G-Pep federation, part of the larger “Viv Ansanm” gang coalition.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro stated, “This office will fight aggressively to protect Americans who are taken hostage and abused, and to uphold the religious freedoms of our people, including Christians.” FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Ryan James added, “This conviction demonstrates the FBI’s determination to follow the evidence wherever it leads and to work our way up to the leaders of criminal plots wherever they are.”
