JACKSON, Mich. — Three men have been found guilty by a Jackson County jury of materially aiding a terrorist and being a member of a gang.
This verdict comes after a three-week trial where the Michigan Attorney General’s Office had to prove that Paul Bellar, Joseph Morrison and Pete Musico provided aid to Adam Fox or Barry Croft, both of whom were ringleaders in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Jurors have spent two weeks listening to each side present testimony in the largest domestic terrorism case in a generation that has shed light on political extremism in Michigan.
The jury spent about five hours deliberating before coming back with the verdict. They found Bellar, Morrison and Musico guilty of providing material support to a terrorist, being a member of a gang and a felony weapons charge.
The men face up to 22 years in prison, 20 for the charge of providing material support and an additional two for a felony weapons charge.
Bellar looked down at the table but had no visible response. Morrison tested positive for COVID-19 Sunday and Musico showed symptoms, so neither was in the courtroom while the verdict was read.
Prosecutors argued that the three men were early members or founders of the Wolverine Watchmen militia, which helped to train Fox and Croft for their plot to kidnap Whitmer.
“They promoted terrorism, they sought out terrorists and when they found them, they trained them,” Assistant Attorney General Sunita Doddamani said. “(Wolverine Watchmen) was a blueprint for Adam Fox to learn from.”
Doddamani said Bellar provided medical and firearms training, Musico provided facilities and personnel and Morrison provided facilities, personnel and advice to Fox, in particular. Morrison taught Fox about operation security, vetting potential members, recruiting and how to run a firearms training, Doddamani said. They knew Fox was looking to commit violence and were OK with it, Doddamani said.
“These three defendants had been pushing toward violence for months,” Doddamani said. “Even if they weren’t going to do an act of terrorism themselves, they were more than happy and willing to help someone else.”
The FBI was able to take down the plot before any violence occurred by infiltrating the militia and utilizing confidential informants and undercover officers to build their case.
The AG’s case rested heavily on Bellar, Morrison and Musico’s own words, from audio messages, Facebook posts, text messages and audio recorded by one of the FBI’s confidential informants.
Prosecutors said the men purged inactive members, held mandatory trainings, compartmentalized information dispersion, issued ultimatums, traveled long distances and spent their free time hosting in-person trainings and communicating on Facebook and an encrypted application.
They gave Fox a blueprint to learn from, Doddamani said. They taught to him recruit, organize and train a group of operators, about operational security, about vetting potential members and firearms training.
“Don’t underestimate the dangerousness of the defendants and the men they were helping,” Assistant Attorney General William Rollstin cautioned the jury before they left the courtroom to deliberate Tuesday.
Fox and Croft were convicted of kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction during their second trial after the first ended in a mistrial. Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, co-defendants of Fox and Croft, were acquitted, and other plot members Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy.
