Last two men convicted of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor have been sentenced
A Michigan man was sentenced to 16 years behind bars to be followed by five years of supervised release for joining in the conspiracy to kidnap the Governor of Michigan and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property.
Adam Fox, 39, of Wyoming, Michigan, and co-conspirator Barry Croft Jr., 47, of Bear, Delaware, were convicted by a federal jury in August 2022 during an 11-day retrial. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Fox and Croft intended to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation cottage near Elk Rapids, Michigan, and use the destructive devices to facilitate their plot by harming and hindering the governor’s security detail and any responding law enforcement officers.
The two men specifically explored placing a bomb under an interstate overpass near a pedestrian boardwalk. Croft was also convicted of possessing an improvised explosive device, which was a commercial firework refashioned with shrapnel to serve as a hand-grenade. A jury in an earlier trial was unable to reach a verdict.
Also see:
- Six indicted in plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
- Arrests made in plot uncovered to kidnap and murder Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Fox should consider himself lucky as he faced up to life in prison for his convictions. The Hon. Robert J. Jonker determined the ultimate sentence after considering all possible factors. Fox is the third to be sentenced of four conspirators convicted in the plot. Barry Croft Jr. was sentenced yesterday.
A Michigan federal judge sentenced a man convicted of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to nearly 20 years in prison Wednesday.
Barry Croft Jr. was part of a plan to kidnap the Democratic governor from her summer home in 2020 and practiced detonating explosives in preparation, prosecutors have said.
Croft, who was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison, the longest sentence of the people convicted, is the last of the defendants in federal court to be sentenced in connection to the plot. Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Croft to life in prison. ~ CNN
Co-defendant Ty Garbin, 27, of Hartland, Michigan, pleaded guilty in January 2021 and initially received a sentence of 75 months, or over six years, in prison.
The district court later reduced Garbin’s sentence to a term of 30 months, or two and a half years in prison, after fully considering his cooperation at both trials. Kaleb Franks, 28, of Waterford, Michigan, received a term of four years in prison after pleading guilty and testifying at both trials. Co-defendants Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were acquitted at the first trial in April 2022.
(Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Michigan)
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