Former FBI Special Agent Richard Trask, 39, lead investigator in the plot to kill Governor Gretchen Whitmer, pleaded no contest to an aggravated assault against his wife in a Kalamazoo County court on Monday.
The charges relate to a July incident when Trask was arrested for beating his wife after returning home from a swingers party. Trask originally faced one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, less than murder, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Trask was sentenced to time served and ordered to pay court costs for the misdemeanor, and was fired from the FBI in September.
Trask was the public face of the FBI in the Whitmer investigation. He testified in court proceedings for five men awaiting trial in federal court on a range of charges, including kidnapping and weapons of mass destruction conspiracies.
Defense lawyers for those charged in the kidnapping plot have portrayed their clients as tough talkers who never carried out their plot, and have accused FBI agents and informants of entrapment.
Body cam video shows that Trask was arrested without incident, but a Facebook post dated March 28, 2020, in which he blasted the Former Guy may put unnecessary pressure on the prosecution of those defendants who are scheduled for federal trial in March. Trask will not be testifying.
Trask’s wife spoke in her husband’s defense, suggesting he had possibly been drugged at the swingers party, causing his violent and erratic behavior. She refused to cooperate with the case, leading to Trask’s plea deal for the lesser charges.
