Joly Germine, Gun running and Money Laundering, Florida 2023

A notorious Haitian gang leader has been locked up for 35 years for a gunrunning scheme that smuggled firearms to Haiti in violation of U.S. export laws, and the laundering of ransoms paid for U.S. hostages held by the 400 Mawozo gang.

Joly Germine, 31, of Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, was sentenced today to 420 months in prison for his role in the conspiracy. His partner in crime, Eliande Tunis, 46, of Pompano Beach, Florida, who styled herself as Germine’s “wife” and was described at trial as the “Queen” of 400 Mawozo, was sentenced on June 5, to 150 months in prison for her role in the conspiracy.

The conspiracy resulted in the purchase in the United States of at least 24 firearms, including weapons designed for the military and close-quarters combat such as AK-47s, AR-15s, an M4 Carbine rifle, an M1A rifle, and a .50 caliber rifle, which were smuggled from the United States to the gang in Haiti to further their criminal activities.

Those firearms were bought using funds laundered from the proceeds of the hostage taking for ransom of U.S. citizens in Haiti in 2021.

The leaders of violent gangs in Haiti that terrorize Americans citizens in order to fuel their criminal activity will be met with the full force of the Justice Department.

Joly Germine, a leader of the Haitian gang known as 400 Mawozo, 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 16 U.S. citizens.

Preventing them from illegally shipping anymore firearms or laundering the proceeds of kidnappings strikes a critical blow against the gang they once led.

Mandatory Facts: Defendant/respondent Joly Germine, exact criminal charges gun running and money laundering, City and state Pompano Beach, Florida, EXACT DATE June 5, 2023, Sentence or outcome 420 months in prison, Dollar amounts not applicable.

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