Man pleads guilty in conspiracy to kidnap Michigan governor
DETROIT – One of six men charged in an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy, federal prosecutors said.
Under the plea agreement, Ty Garbin, 25, an airline mechanic from Wixom, Michigan, admitted to conspiring to kidnap the governor and agreed to “fully cooperate” with the FBI and testify against others in the case in exchange for leniency.
Garbin, 25, could have faced up to life in prison on the kidnap conspiracy charge. Federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a lighter sentence – they did not disclose any figure – in exchange for his cooperation. A judge will have the final say in his sentence.
The government disclosed new details in the case, including that the alleged ringleader, Adam Fox, was preparing the basement where he lived for a kidnapping exercise and planned on using zip ties and a taser to “neutralize” the governor.
Defense attorneys argued that the defendants had no real plan to kidnap the governor but were only blowing off steam, talking tough and engaging in puffery. Prosecutors said the suspects took steps to carry out their plan, such as casing the governor’s home at night and during the day, drawing up maps and holding training exercises.
Garbin is the first to cut a deal in the case.
Garbin and 13 others are accused of conspiring to kidnap the governor, motivated largely by anger over her lockdown orders during the pandemic.
Garbin and four of his co-defendants were arrested in an FBI sting Oct. 6 after undercover informants and agents infiltrated their group and learned of their alleged plan to kidnap the governor. One FBI agent said there was talk of taking Whitmer out on a boat and leaving her stranded in Lake Michigan.
Six men face federal charges in the case; Eight others with alleged ties to the kidnap plot face terrorism charges in state court for, among other things, allegedly plotting a violent revolt at the state Capitol.
After Garbin’s arrest, his attorney, Mark Satawa, argued that his client was a bystander in the plot and that he would be vindicated when the facts came out. Prosecutors countered that Garbin was an active participant who carried out the following acts:
● He cased the governor’s vacation home at night.
● He texted about bridge to slow police.
He offered to paint his boat for “night fishing” as part of the kidnapping mission on the lake.
Prosecutors used those allegations, along with claims that Garbin had the ability to manufacture guns, to convince a judge to deny bond to Garbin last fall. The government argued that Garbin was a danger to society and was a flight risk.
A magistrate judge agreed and ordered him detained.
Satawa had argued that Garbin has “no criminal history, “a good job making $28 an hour and an Army veteran father who can keep an eye on him.
All six federal defendants were denied bond. Eight others are charged in state court on terrorism and gun-related charges.
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