Judge throws out entrapment argument in Michigan Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot case – By Frank Witsil & Emma Stein (The Columbus Dispatch) / March 1, 2022
After two days of arguments and testimony, a Jackson County judge ruled Tuesday that three men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were not entrapped by law enforcement, clearing the way for the case to go to trial.
The trio — Pete Musico, 44; his son-in-law, Joseph Morrison, 27, and Paul Bellar, 23, who have been accused of supporting terrorism, gang membership and carrying a firearm in the commission of a felony — claim they were duped.
Court documents show the suspects met twice in Ohio, once on June 6 in Dublin and again at another undisclosed Ohio location on July 18. The meetings were secretly recorded by a paid FBI informant.
But Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wilson said he found no evidence that the government pressured or targeted the defendants, nor did a key act to escalate the case.
