Airplane Mechanic Sentenced To 75 Months In Prison For Plot To Kidnap Governor
Agency Report
The first sentencing in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last year was handed down Wednesday afternoon.
Ty Garbin, a 25-year-old airplane mechanic, was sentenced to 75 months in prison for charges of providing material support for terrorist acts and felony firearms charges. He will then serve three years of supervised released and has also been fined $2,500.
He must also seek substance abuse treatment and all computer use must be approved, the judge said.
Garbin initially pleaded not guilty to the charges but changed his plea and cooperated with investigators within weeks of being arrested, The Associated Press reported. He willingly put a “target on his back to begin his own redemption,” according to a court filing by the Department of Justice.
Prosecutors had previously asked U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker to take Garbin’s cooperation into consideration during sentencing, recommending that Garbin serve a nine-year prison term.
Garbin’s defense attorney, Gary Springstead, asked the judge to take into account Garbin’s life both before and after the conspiracy. Not only did Garbin not have a criminal record prior to the plot, but he suffered psychological, physical and emotional abuse by his father all his life, which predisposed him to “becoming swept up in a group such as that charged in the current indictment,” Springstead said.
In additional, Garbin has accepted responsibility for his actions and has testified twice, including “in front of the grand jury in support of the indictment that got him indicted,” Springstead said.
