kidnapping

A trial for five men accused of planning to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been postponed for seven months to give defense lawyers more time to receive and analyze evidence, a federal judge said Wednesday.

The March 23 trial has been moved to October 12 in federal court in Grand Rapids.

Federal prosecutors may be considering additional charges for use of “weapons of mass destruction” in the alleged plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

That’s a “major factor” behind why one of the six men decided to plead guilty to the initial kidnapping charges, according to his attorneys.

Federal prosecutors have reached a plea agreement with one of the men charged in the alleged plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Under the agreement, Ty Garbin of Hartland Township, agrees to plead guilty to the charge of conspiring to kidnap the Governor. The charge carries a sentence of up to life in prison, but under the agreement, prosecutors have agreed to recommend a lesser sentence.

One man has decided to plead “guilty” for his role in the alleged plot to kidnap the governor.

A total of 14 men have been charged for the alleged plot – eight in state court, six in federal.

Ty Garbin, a 25-year old from Livingston County, is charged in federal court. Prosecutors alleged he hosted the other men at his property in northern Michigan, and went along with surveillance of the governor’s vacation home.

A Jackson County judge lowered the bond amount today for one of the 14 men charged in the alleged plot to kidnap the governor.

The bond amount for Pete Musico had been set at $10 million. It’s now set at $100 thousand. 

The Michigan Sheriffs' Association says it condemns statements made by Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf after the arrests of militia members who allegedly plotted to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

At least one of the alleged terrorists lived in Barry County.

A state prisons spokesman says a potential kidnapping or murder-for-hire threat from an inmate targeting a Michigan state lawmaker has been detected and stopped.

Authorities said Friday that the case remains under investigation and no charges have been filed. They say the plot was being developed by a prisoner in a state correctional facility who has since been isolated from other prisoners. It wasn't immediately known why the prisoner was targeting the lawmaker.