DETROIT (AP) — A judge wants to know why two men convicted of secondary roles in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have been transferred to federal prisons out of state.

Paul Bellar and Joe Morrison are entitled to appeal their convictions following a trial on state charges in Jackson County in 2022. But their lawyers said it’s extremely hard to work with them hundreds of miles away.

They said the distance interferes with a right to have access to Michigan courts.

The transfer is “mind-boggling” and “appalling,” said Michael Faraone, who represents Morrison.

“Whatever we may say about this case, however we may feel about it, I think we can agree we’re not dealing with al-Qaida,” Faraone told a judge Friday, referring to the Middle East terrorist group.

Bellar, Morrison and Pete Musico were found guilty of providing material support for a terrorist act and other charges. They had no direct role in the kidnapping conspiracy but had held gun training with leader Adam Fox and shared his disgust for Whitmer, police and public officials, especially after COVID-19 restrictions were imposed.

Musico was sentenced to at least 12 years in prison. Morrison got 10 years, and Bellar received seven.

Morrison was shipped to a federal prison in Illinois, and Bellar is in Pennsylvania.