Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Federal prosecutors are seeking a reduction in the prison sentence for a Livingston County man convicted in connection with the plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

The request to reduce the sentence of 26-year-old Ty Garbin of Hartland Township was made on Wednesday – one day after a jury convicted two of Garbin’s co-conspirators, Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. It was the second trial for the pair after a jury in April couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict. Two other men were acquitted in the plot and two more pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors are seeking to have three years taken off Garbin’s six-year sentence for helping to secure the convictions. He was said to have had a clean criminal history prior to the case and testified against both men twice.

A court filing states Garbin provided significant assistance leading to the convictions, was forthright in admitting his role in the conspiracy and did not minimize his culpability. It further states his assistance was remarkable for “its timeliness, its duration, and the personal risk he assumed to fulfill his obligations under his plea agreement”.

Garbin is expected to testify in ongoing criminal cases against eight others charged in connection with the plot.

The FBI considered it a major domestic terrorism case and put at least three informants and two undercover agents in the group.

Prosecutors described the plot as a rallying cry for a U.S. civil war by anti-government extremists. Defense lawyers say Fox and Croft were simply “big talkers” who said vile things about Whitmer and government.

Fox and Croft are set to be sentenced in December and face up to life in prison.