Two of four men charged with planning to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer have been acquitted on all charges while verdicts could not be reached on the other two suspects.
not guilty and a mistrial has been declared for the other two suspects after the jury could not reach a verdict.
Following the verdict, U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge spoke briefly, expressing disappointment in the verdict.Defense attorneys portrayed their clients as credulous weekend warriors prone to big, wild talk, who were often stoned. They said FBI undercover agents and informants tricked and cajoled the men into agreeing to a conspiracy.
To counter that entrapment claim, prosecutors entered evidence that the men discussed abducting Whitmer before the FBI sting began. They went way beyond talk, including scouting Whitmer's summer home and testing explosives, prosecutors told jurors. Lastly, Harris was charged with possession of a semiautomatic assault rifle with a barrel less than 16 inches long that wasn't registered to him.but Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks both pleaded guilty before trial.The kidnapping conspiracy charge and the conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction each carried a maximum life sentence.
The indictment attributes another overt act on Oct. 7, 2020, to Caserta, alleging he instructed co-conspirators that, if they encountered police, they should give the officers one chance to leave, then kill them.
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