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Three men who forged an early alliance with the leader of a plot to kidnap the Michigan governor were sentenced Thursday to long prison terms for helping him before the FBI broke up the scheme in 2020.
Pete Musico received a 12-year minimum term and his son-in-law Joe Morrison received 10 years. A third person, Paul Bellar, was sentenced to seven years at the same hearing in Jackson County.
They were convicted in October of providing material support to a terrorist act, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, and two other offences. Adam Fox was the leader of the group and faces life in prison.
Musico, 45, Morrison, 28, and Bellar, 24, were members of a paramilitary group known as the Wolverine Watchmen. Governor Gretchen Whitmer was never physically harmed by the plot.
All three will be eligible for parole after serving their minimum sentences. The maximum they can serve in prison would be 42 years under state law.
Pete Musico, 45, and Joe Morrison, 28, were sentenced to years in prison after conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor
Paul Bellar, 24, was also involved and received seven years in prison. The three men who forged an early alliance with the leader of a plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan
Judge Thomas Wilson presided over the first batch of convictions in state court, following the high-profile conspiracy convictions of four others in federal court.
Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were described as the captains of an incredible plan to wrest Governor Whitmer from her vacation home, seeking to inspire an American civil war known as ‘boogaloo.’
Whitmer, a Democrat recently elected to a second term, was never physically harmed.
Undercover FBI agents and informants were inside the Fox group for months, and the scheme unraveled with 14 arrests in October 2020.
Morrison, Musico and Bellar conducted firearms training with Fox in rural Jackson County and shared their disgust for Whitmer, police and public officials, especially after COVID-19 restrictions hit the economy and sparked armed protests. on Capitol Hill and anti-government belligerence.
But defense attorneys argued that the trio had cut ties with Fox before the Whitmer plot came to light in late summer 2020; Bellar had moved to South Carolina in July.
The three men also did not travel with Fox to search for the governor’s second home or participate in a key training session inside a ‘shooting house’ in Luther, Michigan.
‘Mister. Bellar has no idea of any plot to kidnap the governor,’ attorney Andrew Kirkpatrick said again in a court filing last week.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (pictured) was never physically harmed
Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wilson presided over the first batch of convictions in state court
However, a jury quickly returned guilty verdicts in October after hearing nine days of testimony, mostly evidence offered by a key FBI informant, Dan Chappel, and federal agents.
The jury agreed with prosecutors that the Wolverine Watchmen constituted a criminal gang.
Chappel, an Army veteran, said he joined Watchmen because he wanted to improve his gun skills.
But when there was talk of harming the police, he went to the FBI and agreed to collect evidence for an investigation that eventually revealed a target in Whitmer.
Chappel told the jury that it was “absolutely” risky. “If I ever got engaged,” he said, “it wouldn’t be a good day.”
Separately, in a Grand Rapids federal court, Fox and Croft face possible life sentences in two weeks.
Two men who have pleaded guilty have been given significant reprieves: Ty Garbin is free after two and a half years in prison, while Kaleb Franks received a four-year sentence.
Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris were acquitted by a jury.
Morrison, Musico and Bellar conducted firearms training with Fox in rural Jackson County and shared their dislike of Whitmer. Bellar is seen being detained on October 26.
All three were charged on October 5 in connection with the kidnapping. In the photo: prosecutors and defense waiting for the judge
When the plot was thwarted, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had given “comfort to those who spread fear, hate and division.”
In August, after 19 months out of office, Trump called the kidnapping plan a “phony deal.”
Whitmer also extended criticism of Tudor Dixon, her electoral opponent, saying she was “part of the problem.”
A plot to kidnap and murder me has been made light of. Other threats against me and my family have been taken lightly,” Whitmer said Wednesday.
Dixon previously told supporters in September that Whitmer was “good at taking businesses hostage and holding them for ransom.”