3 men sentenced in 2020 plot to kidnap US governor

By Darren Lyn

HOUSTON, United States (AA) - Three of the men involved in the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were sentenced in state court Thursday, according to reports.

Pete Musico, 44, was sentenced to 12 years in prison; Joe Morrison, 28, was given a 10-year term and Paul Bellar, 23, received a seven-year sentence, according to NBC News.

The men, members of the Wolverine Watchmen paramilitary group, were convicted in October for their roles in the foiled plot to kidnap Whitmer by gunpoint at her vacation home.

The charges included providing material support for terrorism, gang membership and firearm violations.

Whitmer was never physically harmed in the kidnapping scheme.

The three were among more than a dozen arrested in October 2020 in the plot.

Prosecutors said the group hoped the kidnapping would lead to a violent uprising and instigate a civil war.

The trial in Michigan state court was separate from a trial in federal court where two of the ringleaders, Adam Fox, 38, and Barry Croft Jr., 46, were convicted of kidnapping conspiracy, according to NBC.

Seven of the accused, including Musico, Morrison and Bellar, have been convicted by a jury or pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy, according to Reuters.

Two others were acquitted of federal charges in a trial in April.