Lansing, MI - Three members of the Wolverine Watchmen were sentenced to years behind bars, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday, December 15, 2022.
Joseph Morrison, Paul Bellar and Pete Musico appeared before Judge Thomas Wilson of the 4th Circuit Court in Jackson County, and each were sentenced up to 20 years in prison.
Joseph Morrison, of Munith, was sentenced to:
- Count 1: Gang membership, 4-20 years;
- Count 2: Providing material support for terrorist acts, 4-20 years;
- Count 3: Carrying or possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony; two years.
Morrison will serve consecutive sentences on all counts.
Paul Bellar, of Milford, was sentenced to:
- Count 1: Gang membership, 5-20 years;
- Count 2: Providing material support for terrorist acts, 4-20 years;
- Count 3: Carrying or possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony, two years.
Bellar will serve concurrent sentences for counts one and two, and the third count will be served consecutively.
Pete Musico, of Munith, was previously convicted of:
- Count 1: Gang membership, 5-20 years;
- Count 2: Providing material support for terrorist acts, 5-20 years;
- Count 3: Carrying or possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony; two years.
Musico will serve consecutive sentences on all counts.
“The defendants’ ultimate goals were to kill police and elected officials and kidnap the Governor of Michigan. These extraordinarily violent ends, coupled with the unequivocal conviction from the jury, demand the maximum sentence,” said Nessel. “Appropriate consequences for illegal acts are necessary to deter criminal behavior. Law enforcement officers that put their lives on the line to protect our residents and communities, and those elected as part of our representative government, deserve to know those who threaten their safety will face the full penalty of the law.”
Morrison, Bellar and Musico were charged under Michigan’s Anti-Terrorism Act of 2002. They are three of several men that were arrested on domestic terrorism charges after a joint operation by state and federal authorities in early October 2020 exposed a plot that included targeting law enforcement officers, threatening violence to incite a civil war, planning an attack on the state Capitol building and kidnapping government officials, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.