aged 31, a Haitian citizen residing in Orlando, Florida, was sentenced this Wednesday to 60 months in prison for having participated in a very sophisticated smuggling scheme which allowed the export or attempted export of at least 24 weapons fire from the United States to Haiti, as well as hundreds of munitions.
Along with the prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates sentenced Dor to three years of probation. Dor pleaded guilty on October 30, 2023, to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, violation of the Export Control Reform Act, and money laundering to promote a specific illegal activity.
According to government documents, 400 Mawozo is a notoriously violent Haitian gang and criminal organization that operated in the Croix-des-Bouquets region, east of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Beginning on January 12, 2020, 400 Mawozo carried out armed kidnappings of American citizens in Haiti for ransom.
Dor acted as straw buyer (secret agent) for 400 Mawozo. From September 18, 2021 to October 17, 2021, he purchased 10 high-powered semi-automatic rifles from gun stores in the Orlando area, at the direction of Germine, for the express purpose of shipping these weapons to the leaders of the 400 gang Mawozo in Haiti. Rifles were intended for combat. One of the weapons, a 50 caliber Barrett rifle, is primarily used by the military against heavy machinery. Dor falsely represented to gun sellers that he was the “real purchaser” of the guns. He also received multiple transfers of thousands of US dollars from his accomplices to ensure payment.
The FBI attempted to arrest Dor on October 31, 2021, but was unable to locate either Dor or the high-powered rifles. Dor stopped using his cell phones, showing he was aware law enforcement was after him. The search extended to the Midwest where Dor was nearly captured at a truck stop. On November 5, 2021, Dor rented storage space in Orlando. On November 8, 2021, he asked his lawyer to contact the FBI in order to surrender. The FBI arrested Dor the same day and recovered the weapons from the warehouse in Orlando. He has been in detention since his arrest.
In October 2021, the 400 Mawozo gang claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of 16 American citizens, including five children, and one Canadian citizen who were part of a missionary organization visiting an orphanage in Port-au-Prince. The gang demanded a $1 million ransom for each hostage. The hostages escaped around December 16, 2021. Earlier this year, in June, the gang took two American citizens hostage and only released them after receiving a $25,000 ransom. In August 2023, the gang took another American citizen hostage and released her after receiving $50,000.
Dor was initially charged in a May 2022 indictment that named co-defendants Joly Germine, also known as Yonyon, (31), a Haitian national, and Eliande Tunis, (45), a citizen American from Pompano Beach, Florida.
Germine was the “king” of the 400 Mawozo gang and ran operations from a Haitian prison using uncontrolled cell phones. Currently detained in the United States, Germine pleaded guilty on January 31 to his role in the arms trafficking conspiracy that allowed firearms to be shipped to Haiti in violation of U.S. export laws, as well as to laundering ransoms paid for the gang’s American hostages in 2021. Germine faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced on May 15.
Tunis, Germine’s former partner, pleaded guilty on the eve of the trial, on January 17. Tunis, who presented herself as the “queen” of the 400 Mawozo gang, also faces a maximum prison sentence when she is sentenced on May 8. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The announcement was made by Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia and Special Agent Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI’s Miami Field Office.
The FBI’s Miami field office is investigating the case, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the Haitian National Police (PNH), the Haitian government, the FBI office in Washington, US Marshal’s Service, the Office of International Affairs of the Department of Justice (Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs), the Diplomatic Security Service of the US Department of State, and the Special Prosecution Section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District from Florida.
Prosecutors Karen P. Seifert and Kimberly Paschall and Paralegal Specialist Jorge Casillas for the District of Columbia, along with Attorney Beau Barnes of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, are charged of the affair.
