FILE - This combo of undated booking photos provided by Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, left, and Jackson County Sheriff's Office, show, from left, Paul Bellar, Joseph Morrison and Pete Musico. The three men who forged an early alliance with the leader of a plot to kidnap Michigan's governor will return to court on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, and are facing potentially lengthy sentences for assisting him in the months before the FBI broke up the cabal in 2020. (Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and Jackson County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

There is a city in Michigan called Jackson. The judge sentenced three men who forged an early alliance with a leader of the scheme before the FBI broke it up.

Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar were not charged with having a direct role in the conspiracy but were members of a paramilitary group that trained with Adam Fox.

The trio was found guilty of providing material support for a terrorist act and two other crimes.

Musico was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years in prison, followed by his son-in-law, Morrison, 10 years, and the last one, Bellar, 7 years. Parole will be available after they serve those terms.

The governor urged the judge to impose a sentence that met the seriousness of the damage they have done to our democracy.

"A conspiracy to kidnap and kill a sitting governor of the state of Michigan is a threat to democracy itself, and I now scans crowds for threats and worries about the fate of everyone near me."

The first set of convictions in state court were presided over by Judge Thomas Wilson. The plan was to snatch Whitmer from her vacation home in order to inspire a U.S. Civil War.

A Democrat recently elected to a second term, she was never hurt. The scheme was broken up with the arrests of 14 people in October 2020.

A person convicted of more than one crime in Michigan will usually get a prison sentence that runs at the same time. Wilson made Musico and Morrison's minimum stay longer by ordering consecutive sentences. Three men were convicted of supporting terrorism, as well as being members of a gang, and were sentenced to prison.

They were members of the Watchmen. The three held gun training with Fox in rural Jackson County and shared their disgust for the police and public officials after the COVID-19 restrictions disrupted the economy and caused armed Capitol protests.

The trio had cut ties with Fox before the Whitmer plot came into focus, according to the defense. The three men didn't travel with Fox to look for the governor's second home or participate in a training session inside a "shoot house"

An attorney said in a court filing last week that Mr. Bellar was unaware of any plan to abduct the governor.

After nine days of testimony, a jury returned guilty verdicts in October.

In federal court in Grand Rapids, Fox and Croft could be sentenced to life in prison. The two men who pleaded guilty received substantial breaks, with one of them being free after 2 1/2 years. A jury acquitted the two men.

When the plot was stopped, Whitmer blamed Donald Trump and said he had given comfort to those who spread fear and hatred. After 19 months out of office, Trump called the kidnapping plan a fake deal.

That's right.

White came from Detroit. Joey is a corps member for The Associated Press. A program called Report for America places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

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