Convicted Whitmer kidnap plotter who cooperated wants out of prison. Now.

Convicted kidnap plotter Ty Garbin wants out of prison now, arguing he has paid his dues for conspiring to harm Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and deserves his freedom for helping the government salvage one of the biggest domestic terrorism cases in U.S. history.

Moreover, his lawyer argued, Garbin faces "grave danger" if he stays locked up.

"The target that Mr. Garbin presents for extremists, prison gangs or someone out to make a name for themselves cannot be ignored. The danger is real and will pervade everything Mr. Garbin does and everywhere he goes," defense attorney Mark Satawa argued in a Friday court filing. "For all that Mr. Garbin has done to assist the Government in this case, and in the future, the state prosecution − he deserves to be allowed to reside in the safety of his own home."

Garbin testified in both trials against former compatriots

Satawa's filing is a response to the government's latest request that Garbin, 26, an airline mechanic from Hartland, get another three years trimmed off his sentence for his cooperation in the case. Prosecutors made this request last month, one day after Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. were convicted in a retrial on kidnapping conspiracy and weapons of mass destruction charges by a federal jury in Grand Rapids.

Garbin testified against Fox and Croft at both their trials. The first one ended with no convictions − two were acquitted and the jury deadlocked on charges against Fox and Croft, who were found guilty on all counts on retrial and face up to life in prison when they are sentenced in December.

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Garbin, who cut a deal with the government two months after his 2020 arrest, was initially sentenced to just over six years in prison (75 months) for his role in the conspiracy. The prosecution last month asked the judge to trim another three years off his sentence for his cooperation, which would make him eligible for release in 15 months.

But Satawa argued that Garbin shouldn't have to serve any more time in prison, given his "extraordinary cooperation" that helped the government in the following ways:

• After Garbin pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate, a second defendant, Kaleb Franks, did the same − with both men testifying against their codefendants at trial.

• "This not only bolstered the credibility of Mr. Garbin and all the other government witnesses, but allowed the government to refute any suggestion that Mr. Garbin was a rogue or renegade codefendant, creating a story out of thin air, simply to help his own self-interest," Satawa wrote. "Furthermore, Mr. Garbin’s testimony at both trials was compelling, forthright and a critical part of the Government’s case."

• At both trials, Garbin testified that he and others willingly joined a plot to kidnap Whitmer and that no one pressured them into doing so, refuting the claims by other defendants that the FBI tried to entrap them.

'This was no run-of-the-mill trial'

Garbin's lawyer argued that the government's request to have another three years shaved off Garbin's sentence is a reduction "that a government witness would receive after testifying in a single, solitary, run-of-the-mill trial, let alonetestifying at two separate trials."

"And this was no run-of-the-mill trial," Satawa wrote. "In fact, both trials were of critical importance – not only to theDepartment of Justice’s efforts to combat domestic terrorism, but, perhaps, more importantly, to protect democracy itself from extremists who threaten to use violence to overthrow our government. "

Satawa added:

"The second trial was arguably of even greater importance to the Department of Justice, given the defendants’ repeated attempts to undermine the integrity of the investigation, and repeated assertions that the Government framed or entrapped the defendants," Satawa wrote. "... these assertions surely eroded public trust in the Government, the Department of Justice and the FBI, at a critical time in this country’s history, that is, when the government wasconfronting an unprecedented number of violent attacks on itself and its elected democratically elected representatives."

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Also, Garbin’s cooperation is not over yet, his lawyer pointed out.

As part of his agreement, Garbin must testify in the upcoming state trial of other defendants who were not charged federally for their alleged roles in the Whitmer kidnap case.

"The Attorney General’s Office has already spent three hours with Mr. Garbin preparing for thattrial, which is set to occur in October," Satawa wrote, adding that Garbin will continue to cooperate "even if he is no longer incarcerated."

"Mr. Garbin has demonstrated time and time again − from his decision to plead guilty early ... to his willingness to cooperate when nobody else would ... that his motivation to cooperate is not simply to reduce his sentence, but also to atone for his past mistakes and rehabilitate his character by getting on the right side of the law," Satawa wrote.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer kidnap plotter who cooperated wants out of prison immediately