TWO HAITIANS SENTENCED TO LONG PRISON TERMS FOR PLOT
TO TAKE HOSTAGE A FIVE-YEAR-OLD AMERICAN BOY IN HAITI



WASHINGTON - Two Haitian men were sentenced today for the hostage-taking in Haiti in the fall of 2005 of a five-year-old boy who was a U.S. citizen, announced U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth L. Wainstein, National Security Division, U.S. Department of Justice, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office.

Widmay Dorvilier, 27, and Jerome Joseph, also known as James Pierre, 25, both, formerly of Port au Prince, Haiti, were sentenced today before the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to terms of 254 months (21 years and 2 months) and 239 months (19 years and 11 months), respectively, for hostage-taking and related weapons offenses. Widmay Dorvilier pleaded guilty back on March 22, 2006 to hostage taking and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence. Jerome Joseph pleaded guilty on March 9, 2006 to hostage taking. A third conspirator, Fanel Joseph, pleaded guilty to hostage taking on March 9, 2007 and is scheduled to be sentenced on January 31, 2007. The little American boy had been living with his family in the area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

U.S. Attorney Taylor stated, “the kidnapping of a young child is every parent’s worst nightmare. As this case demonstrates, we will do everything in our power to bring kidnappers from foreign lands to American courts to have them face justice for victimizing our children.â€