U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro Condemns ‘King’ of Haitian 400 Mawozo Gang – Life in Prison for Kidnapping Children, Missionaries

U.S.A, December 4, 2025 – U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro delivered a blistering summary of one of Haiti’s most disturbing gang cases, confirming in a December 3 video message that the self-proclaimed “king” of the 400 Mawozo gang has been sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the kidnapping of 17 Christian missionaries — including three children aged six, three, and just eight months old.

Pirro detailed how the hostages were held for 62 days, terrorized, and used as bargaining chips as the gang demanded US$1 million per person for their release.  “They were ultimately able to escape,” she said, adding that the man responsible “will never see the light of day.”

The defendant — Joly “Yonyon” Germine — directed the entire operation from inside a Haitian prison, Pirro said.  Despite being incarcerated on prior charges tied to trafficking, weapons smuggling, and money laundering, Germine continued to run gang finances, coordinate kidnapping operations, and even oversee weapons purchases using ransom proceeds.  U.S. prosecutors previously showed that he used contraband phones to command 400 Mawozo gunmen on the outside.

According to court documents, the October 2021 kidnapping targeted a group from Christian Aid Ministries traveling near Port-au-Prince. Sixteen were Americans and one Canadian.  Some hostages described being moved between gang safehouses at gunpoint, sleeping on floors, and hearing constant gunfire.  A few eventually escaped on foot under cover of darkness; others were released only after partial ransom payments totaling roughly US$350,000.

Federal prosecutors framed the case as a window into Haiti’s violent kidnapping economy, where ransom money funds the purchase of U.S.-sourced assault rifles that fuel the country’s spiraling gang wars.  Germine had already received a 35-year sentence in an earlier weapons-trafficking case before this week’s life sentence was imposed.

Pirro, summarizing the outcome, said simply: “Now he’ll never see the light of day.”

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