Barry Croft Jr. was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in prison Wednesday after being convicted of planning to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
A jury found Croft guilty in August of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, possession of a weapon of mass destruction and possession of an unregistered destructive device, with his associate Adam Fox being convicted of the first two crimes. The men intended to kidnap Whitmer from her Michigan vacation cottage and hold back her security detail and any law enforcement responders with destructive devices, according to the Western Michigan U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Fox and Croft opposed Whitmer’s stringent COVID-19 rules and worried about gun ownership being infringed upon, CBS News reported. The FBI infiltrated the plotting group and foiled it before the 2020 election, arresting 14 individuals.
Fox and Croft did not receive a verdict in their initial April trial, and two other men were found not guilty, according to The Associated Press. Defense attorneys in that trial said the FBI and informants tried to lure men into the alleged plot and they would not have participated otherwise.
FBI informants Steve Robeson and Jenny Plunk allegedly smoked weed with Croft, and Special Agent Christopher Long claimed at the retrial that Plunk shared a hotel room with Croft in July 2020, according to the Detroit Free Press.
A broken window is seen on a home the FBI searched in a Hartland Township mobile home park late Wednesday night and into the morning in connection with a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, on October 8, 2020 in Heartland, Michigan. JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
Prosecutors advocated for life sentences for both Fox and Croft, but Fox was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment Tuesday, according to CBS News. (RELATED: ‘Pharma Bro’ Gives Sam Bankman-Fried Advice For Potential Prison Time)
Kaleb Franks and Ty Garbin testified against Fox and Croft after pleading guilty in connection with the plot, Fox 17 reported. Wolverine Watchmen members Pete Musico, Joe Morrison and Paul Bellar, and Joe Morrison recently received 12-year, ten-year and seven-year prison sentences, respectively, for helping Fox, according to the AP.
Croft’s attorney did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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