A federal court on Wednesday handed down the first sentence in the case surrounding the alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Ty Garbin, who pleaded guilty in January to a kidnapping conspiracy charge, has received a sentence of six years in federal prison. Garbin is one of six defendants in the alleged plot to kidnap Whitmer. Because Garbin cooperated and pleaded guilty, prosecutors asked the judge for nine years.
“It’s hard to overstate how significant Mr. Garbin’s cooperation was here,” a federal prosecutor told the court, according to CNN. “He didn’t hold back. He would come right out and say, ‘We planned to do this, and I was knowingly a part of it.'”
Mark Satawa, Garbin’s attorney, asked for no more than six years, citing cooperation at the risk of Garbin’s own safety. Chief District Judge Robert Jonker said in his sentencing that he believed Garbin had a change of heart and mind and was on the path to rehabilitation and granted a six-year sentence.
“He’s changed his behavior, for sure. I think he’s changed his heart and mind, too. And I think he is an excellent prospect to walk law-abiding paths once he’s finished paying for these very serious mistakes,” Jonker said.
WHAT TO MAKE OF THE PLOT TO KIDNAP GRETCHEN WHITMER
Whitmer agreed that there is room for rehabilitation in her victim impact statement, which Jonker read just before sentencing.
“There is room for grace and rehabilitation for those who recognize the danger that has been unleashed and assist in unearthing the hate that has taken root in our society,” Whitmer wrote. “This will help reestablish the ideals and aspirations that made our nation a beacon of possibility and opportunity to the rest of the world.”
The plot took between June 6 and Oct. 7, 2020, when the men of the Wolverine Watchmen militia group conspired to “unlawfully seize, kidnap, abduct and carry away, and hold for ransom and reward” Whitmer, according to the indictment.
The plan was to kidnap the governor from a vacation home and then blow up a bridge to delay law enforcement. The FBI became aware of the plot in early 2020.
Another facet of the alleged conspiracy has turned heads, as accusations of corruption within the FBI surfaced earlier this month. Michael Hills, who represents defendant Brandon Caserta, claims an FBI agent has instructed an informant to delete text messages that would reveal it had unlawfully advanced the conspiracy.
FBI AGENT TOLD INFORMANT AMONG ALLEGED WHITMER KIDNAPPING PLOTTERS TO LIE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY SAYS
In a court filing from Aug. 13, Hills requested Jonkers to order all communications to be revealed between special agents Impola Henrik and Jayson Chambers and the informant known as “Dan.” Henrik supposedly told Dan to accuse a seventh person in the case, this time of being a federal officer.
If the request is approved, Hills indicated it would be used as part of an entrapment defense when interviewing government witnesses.
A recent report revealed the FBI had several informants within the militia group, including the second in command. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler, however, argued in a court filing that the “defendants were predisposed to join the kidnapping and explosive conspiracies, and therefore will not be able to prove entrapment.”
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Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Caleb Franks, and Daniel Harris are the other four suspects charged with conspiracy, and they will each go to trial later this year.
