After two weeks of testimony in Jackson County Circuit Court, the jury found Joseph Morrison, 28, his stepfather Pete Musico, 44, and Paul Bellar, 23, guilty of gang membership, violation of a firearm and material support for terrorism. They risk up to 20 years in prison.
The three are among more than a dozen men arrested in October 2020 and charged with state or federal crimes in connection with the alleged kidnapping conspiracy.
The verdict is a victory for state prosecutors who argued the men helped two others who in August were convicted of kidnapping conspiracy in federal court. This is the most high-profile case involving domestic terrorism and militias in years.
In the first trial, Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were found guilty of conspiring to kidnap the Democratic governor from her vacation home. Their convictions followed an initial trial that ended in a hung jury. Two other defendants were acquitted during these proceedings.
Prosecutors said Morrison, Musico and Bellar were members of a militia group called the Wolverine Watchmen. The group planned to break into the governor’s vacation home, abduct him and take him away at gunpoint to be “tried” on treason charges, they said.
The conspirators hoped an abduction would lead to a violent uprising and spark a civil war, prosecutors say.
Morrison and Musico were accused of holding tactical training sessions on their property in a remote area of Michigan. Bellar was accused of providing tactical maneuver plans, a coded language for covert communication and ammunition.
Defense attorneys argued that the defendants were unaware of a plan to kidnap the governor and that their actions were protected by the First and Second Amendments to the US Constitution, the Detroit News reported.
In September, a federal judge reduced the sentence of Ty Garbin, who pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy after his testimony helped convict Fox and Croft.
Kaleb Franks, who also pleaded guilty to playing a role in the conspiracy, was sentenced to four years in prison earlier this month after being a key witness in the case against Fox and Croft.