Defense Lawyers In Whitmer Kidnap Plot Seek To Dismiss Charges

MICHIGAN — Defense lawyers for the five men accused of plotting to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer are looking to dismiss the charges against them, according to a court filing.

In the 20-page motion, which was filed Saturday night, the lawyers described the charges federal agents and informants against the men as "egregious overreaching," and asked U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker to dismiss the conspiracy charge, which would then nullify other connected charges.

The defense team claims in the court filing the government conspired the case as a way to "turn general discontent with Governor Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 restrictions into a crime that can be prosecuted."

"Essentially, the evidence here demonstrates egregious overreaching by the government’s agents, and by the informants those agents handled," the defense team wrote. "When the government was faced with evidence showing that the defendants had no interest in a kidnapping plot, it refused to accept failure and continued to push its plan."

The defense team said the FBI and federal prosecutors initiated the case to entrapped the men because there were "no details about how a kidnapping would occur or what would happen afterward."

Federal prosecutors argued the men were not entrapped and said the men planned to snatch Whitmer from her vacation home for months.

The five men were charged with a kidnapping conspiracy and face a trial March 8 in Grand Rapids. They have pleaded not guilty and claim to be victims of entrapment. Each defendant could face up to life in prison if convicted.

A sixth person, Ty Garbin pleaded guilty in January and was sentenced to to six years in prison for his role in the plot to kidnap the governor.