Airline mechanic plans to plead guilty in alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer

Federal prosecutors are close to securing their first conviction in the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Ty Garbin, a 25-year-old airline mechanic from Hartland Township, is expected to plead guilty next week as part of an undisclosed deal with prosecutors, The Detroit Free Press reports.

Garbin’s change-of-plea hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

Garbin is one of six men facing up to life in prison on a federal count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. Eight others were charged with state crimes.

Garbin is accused of suggesting shooting up Whitmer’s vacation home and blowing up a nearby bridge to slow down the police response. He invited some of the other suspects to his property in Luther to test a homemade bomb and offered to paint his boat black to surveil Whitmer’s vacation home, prosecutors said.

A judge denied bond for Garbin and the other five men charged in federal court.

Stay on top of Detroit news and views. Sign up for our weekly issue newsletter delivered each Wednesday.