Wolverine Watchmen were denied release pending their appeals

Two members of the Wolverine Watchmen were denied release pending their appeals and a show cause order on the Michigan Department of Corrections.

Paul Bellar and Joseph Morrison were denied a bond Friday that would have permitted their release pending the appeals they have filed from their convictions according to an announcement from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

The two men’s attempt to show cause the Michigan Department of Corrections due to their placement in federal prisons was likewise denied.

Bellar and Morrison were convicted and sentenced late last year for providing material support for terrorist acts, gang membership, and carrying or possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. They are two of a group of men that were arrested after an 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, and kidnapping government officials, including Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

In order to appeal their convictions, Bellar and Morrison were appointed attorneys by the trial court following their sentence. The a–pellet attorneys asked Jackson County Circuit Court Thomas Wilson to issue an order requiring the Michigan Department of Corrections to show cause to why the men were sent to federal prisons to serve out their sentence rather than remain in the MDOC prison system. The Department of Attorney General opposed the requests all of which Judge Wilson denied.

Wilson found that Bellar and Morrison had not met the burden required of a prisoner seeking bond pending appeal who was convicted of serious crimes like providing material support for a terrorist act.