Lengthy prison terms for 3 who aided Whitmer kidnap plotter

JACKSON, Mich. (AP) — A judge on Thursday handed down the longest-ever prison sentences in the conspiracy to kidnap Michigan’s governor, convicting three men who forged an early alliance with a leader on the program before the FBI disbanded it in 2020.

Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar have not been charged with involvement in the conspiracy. But they were members of a paramilitary group training with Adam Fox, who faces a possible life sentence separately on December 27 for his federal conviction.

The trio were found guilty in October of providing material support to a terrorist attack with a maximum sentence of 20 years and two other offences.

Musico was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years in prison, followed by his son-in-law Morrison at 10 and Bellar at 7. They may be released after serving those sentences, but the decision rests solely with the Michigan Parole Board.

In a recorded video, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged Judge Thomas Wilson to “return a verdict commensurate with the seriousness of the harm they have done to our democracy.”

“A conspiracy to kidnap and kill an incumbent Michigan state governor is a threat to democracy itself,” Whitmer said, adding that she is now scanning the crowd for risk and “assessing the fate of everyone close to me.” worries.

Wilson led the first batch of convictions in state court after four other people were convicted of conspiracy in federal court. Fox and Barry Croft Jr. have been described as masterminds of an incredible plan to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home to ignite a US civil war known as the “Boogaloo.”

Whitmer, a Democrat who was recently elected to a second term, was never physically injured. Undercover FBI agents and whistleblowers were in the Fox group for months, and the scheme was canceled in October 2020 with 14 arrests.

Someone convicted of more than one felony in Michigan is usually sentenced to prison terms that simply run concurrently. But Wilson took the unusual step of ordering back-to-back sets for Musico and Morrison, thereby extending their stay minimums. In addition to a conviction for supporting terrorism, the three men were also convicted of gun crimes and gang membership.

Musico, Morrison and Bellar were among the Wolverine Watchmen. The three held weapons training with Fox and shared his disgust for Whitmer, police and officials, particularly after COVID-19 restrictions disrupted the economy and sparked armed protests in the Capitol and anti-government acts of war.

They ran a “terrorism training camp in Jackson County,” Assistant Attorney General Sunita Doddamani told the judge.

The men expressed regret shortly after Whitmer said in her video they had failed to take responsibility.

Musico, 45, cried while admitting a “lack of judgement”. Morrison, 28, said he rejects, denies and abhors anti-government ideologies. Bellar, 24, was the last to speak and publicly apologized for vile remarks about the governor.

“I was very caught up in the moment,” Bellar said. “I felt I lost a lot of camaraderie after being discharged from the army. That was the reason I joined the Wolverine Watchmen in the first place.”

The defenders continue to plan vigorous revisions. They argued in court that the men severed ties with Fox before the Whitmer conspiracy came into focus in late summer 2020; Bellar had moved to South Carolina in July.

Nor did they travel with Fox to look for the governor’s second home or attend an important training session at a “shooting house” in Luther, Michigan.

“If Mr. Bellar wanted to be part of the governor’s kidnapping, he would have stayed here. … He could have settled like a rock, like a tick in that apartment,” defense attorney Andrew Kirkpatrick said.

However, a jury quickly returned guilty verdicts in October after nine days of hearing testimony, mostly from federal agents and a key FBI whistleblower, Dan Chappel, who was secretly recording conversations.

“The Wolverine Watchmen have been misusing the word ‘patriot’ all along for a really unpatriotic goal, you know, killing fellow Americans. … Dan is what a patriot really is,” Doddamani said Thursday.

Separately, Fox and Croft both face possible life sentences in federal court in Grand Rapids this month. Two men who pleaded guilty received significant breaks: Ty Garbin is free after serving a two-and-a-half year sentence, while Kaleb Franks has been sentenced to four years. Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris were acquitted by a jury.

When the conspiracy was foiled, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had “brought comfort to those who spread fear, hatred and division.” In August, after a 19-month absence, Trump said the kidnapping plot was a “fake deal.”

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White reported from Detroit. Joey Cappelletti is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that brings journalists into local newsrooms to cover undercover topics.

Joey Cappelletti and Ed White, The Associated Press