Higgins pleads guilty to role in Whitmer kidnapping scheme
BELLAIRE — Brian Higgins, one of five defendants charged in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, pled guilty Wednesday, March 15, to a lesser charge in Michigan’s 13th Circuit Court in Antrim County.
Higgins originally pled not guilty to one count of providing material support for an act of terrorism but changed his plea in an agreement with the Michigan State Attorney General’s Office, which will require him to cooperate with prosecutors.
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Higgins, 54, from Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, said he “attempted” to provide material support for terrorism, an offense that holds a five-year maximum prison sentence.
FBI officials testified that, as part of a nighttime surveillance effort, Higgins drove past Whitmer's vacation home on Birch Lake in Elk Rapids during a scheme to kidnap her in 2020. Evidence also showed he trained with others at a “kill house”.
Higgins is the only one to make a plea deal in the group of five men charged with providing material support for domestic terrorism in Antrim County, a charge that carries a 20-year felony. The others — twin brothers Michael and William Null, 40, of Plainwell and Shelbyville, respectively; Shawn Fix, 40, of Belleville; and Eric Molitor, 38, of Cadillac — are, so far, sticking with their original not guilty pleas.
The remaining defendants are scheduled to appear together in front of a jury Aug. 21 in a trial expected to last 15 days. Circuit Court Judge Kevin Elsenheimer ruled in favor of a joinder motion filed by attorneys with the Michigan AG's Office in February.
The Antrim County cases are the last to play out in the statewide prosecution of those participating in the plot to kidnap Whitmer before the 2020 election, one of the nation's highest-profile domestic terror cases.
To date, a total of 14 people have been charged in three different courts, with four convicted in federal court, including ringleaders Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., and two acquitted.
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In December, Fox was sentenced to 16 years in prison and Croft Jr. was sentenced to more than 19 years. In October, three men were found guilty of assisting Fox in Jackson County and sentenced to prison terms of 7, 10 and 12 years.
— Contact reporter Annie Doyle at 231-675-0099 or adoyle@charlevoixcourier.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Higgins pleads guilty to role in Whitmer kidnapping scheme
