Michigan man gets 6 years for Whitmer kidnapping role
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Hartland Township man was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday for his role in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last year after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Ty Gerard Garbin, 25, is the first of those accused in the high-profile conspiracy to be sentenced.
Four Michigan residents — Adam Fox, of Potterville, Daniel Joseph Harris of Lake Orion, Kaleb Franks of Waterford Township and Brandon Caserta, of Canton Township — plus Delaware resident Barry Croft Jr. — also have been charged in federal court in connection with the alleged kidnapping plot and will go to trial later this year. They argue they were victims of entrapment by federal agents.
Garbin pleaded guilty in January to his part in the conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer during the height of state-mandated coronavirus shutdowns last year. He is the only defendant to plead guilty, and both prosecutors and Garbin's attorney acknowledged Garbin would serve as a “star witness” if the others accused in the conspiracy go to trial.
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker acknowledged Garbin's willingness to cooperate with prosecutors and his genuine interest in reform when he delivered the 75-month sentence. Jonker said he hopes it deters other people from getting swept up in extremist ideology and plots of violence.
—The Detroit News
Erik Prince offers $6,500 flights from Afghanistan, report says
DETROIT — Michigan-born military contractor and former Navy SEAL Erik Prince is offering chartered flights out of Afghanistan at $6,500 a seat, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Prince, who is the brother of former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and grew up in west Michigan, told the Journal it would cost more if people needed his aid in getting out of their homes and to the airport with the Taliban in control of the country.
The story, which described the scramble underway by both American forces and private rescue operations to evacuate Afghans, U.S. citizens and others ahead of an Aug. 31 withdrawal of U.S. troops from that country, said it was unclear whether Prince — who founded the military security firm formerly known as Blackwater — was capable of carrying out such rescue missions and flights.
It comes just after criticism was leveled at another west Michigander, U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids, following an unauthorized trip to Kabul on Tuesday with another congressman, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass. It is not known how Meijer and Moulton got into Afghanistan, though they departed on a military aircraft, the Pentagon confirmed Wednesday.
Prince has been involved in controversies before, including during the Iraq War when Blackwater security forces killed more than a dozen Iraqi citizens in Baghdad. Four years ago, President Donald Trump's advisers brought Prince in to look at ways of using contractors to conduct military operations in Afghanistan rather that additional troops.
—Detroit Free Press
Delta Air Lines imposes fee on unvaccinated employees
MINNEAPOLIS – Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it will impose a $200 monthly surcharge in its health plan to employees who haven't been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's full approval of the Pfizer COVID vaccine this week, the Atlanta-based airline is now taking a more hardline approach to vaccinations among its employees.
It's the latest corporation to impose stricter COVID-19 personnel policies given the legal protections offered by the FDA's full approval of a vaccine.
Chief executive Ed Bastian announced the insurance surcharge along with a number of other policy changes for the unvaccinated in an employee memo Wednesday.
Since the rise of the more contagious variant, all Delta Air Lines employees who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 were not fully vaccinated. The surcharge, which begins in November, equates to a $2,400 cut in annual pay.
As of Monday, 75% of the the Delta workforce was fully vaccinated.
—Star Tribune
LA County prosecutors bring Ron Jeremy sex assault case to grand jury
LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors have taken the sexual assault case against Ron Jeremy to a grand jury and will seek to indict the disgraced porn icon on dozens of counts of rape and sexual battery, law enforcement officials told the Los Angeles Times this week.
The grand jury will hear testimony from the nearly two dozen women who have accused Jeremy of attacking them in Southern California, with some of the allegations dating back more than a quarter-century, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the case. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the matter candidly, as grand jury proceedings are normally secret.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to comment. Jeremy’s attorney, Stu Goldfarb, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment. The news was first reported by XBIZ, a trade publication that covers the adult film industry.
Jeremy, 68, was initially charged with four counts of rape, sexual battery and forcible oral copulation in June 2020, with prosecutors alleging he leveraged his celebrity to prey on vulnerable victims along the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Within days of his arrest, prosecutors said they received at least 25 new complaints of sexual misconduct against Jeremy, 13 of which involved victims who said they were attacked in Southern California.
Jeremy has denied all wrongdoing.
—Los Angeles Times
