WASHINGTON (AP) — A man alleged to be the founder and leader of a Haitian gang was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison for orchestrating the kidnapping of 17 people, including five children, who were on a missionary trip to the Caribbean country.
Joly Germine declined to say anything before U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington, D.C., sentenced him.
“No remorse has been shown by Mr. Germine. No acceptance of responsibility,” the judge said.
Some of the kidnapping victims chose to speak in court, telling Germine that they forgive him for his role in their ordeal.
Ray Noecker, whose wife, Cheryl, and five children were held hostage, said it was a “life-changing experience" for their family. He turned to Germine and told him that he hopes he finds “God's peace.”
“True freedom is not found outside of prison walls. True freedom is found inside your own heart,” Noecker said.
The victims — 16 U.S. citizens and one Canadian citizen — were kidnapped by gang members near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Oct. 16, 2021. Most of them were held at gunpoint for 62 days before they escaped.
Prosecutors also sought a life sentence. They said Germine, now 33, led the “400 Mawozo” gang from a prison in Haiti.
“This horrific crime was driven by defendant Germine’s own self-interest; he wanted to secure his release from prison in exchange for the hostages,” prosecutors wrote.
Germine denies that he was a leader of the gang, according to his attorneys. They said he became involved in politics after allowing farmers to grow crops on his land.
“Mr. Germine genuinely tried to help his countrymen, especially those that did not have much. The Haitian government did not provide services and resources to the poor like we have in this country, and Mr. Germine tried to fill the gap,” his lawyers wrote.
The Christian missionaries were returning from a visit to an orphanage when kidnappers forced their bus to stop. One of the kidnapped children was eight months old.
The gang took credit for the kidnappings on social media and initially demanded a ransom of $17 million, or $1 million for each victim. But the hostage takers later contacted a representative of the missionaries and asked for Germine's release from prison.
All of the hostages were released or escaped. Germine remained in prison but was transferred to the U.S. to face charges in a May 2022 indictment. After a trial earlier this year, a jury convicted him of charges including conspiracy to commit hostage taking.
Germine was separately convicted of participating in a plot to smuggle semiautomatic firearms from the U.S. to Haiti for gang members' use. For that case, Bates sentenced him last year to 35 years in prison.
FILE - A man rides his bicycle past police station in Pont-Sonde, Haiti, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.
Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.
Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
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China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”
He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”
Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”
He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.
Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.
“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.
However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”
The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.
The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.
Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.
“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.
Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.
Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.
A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
