GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Federal prosecutors are seeking life sentences for Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox in the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The defendants’ attorneys called for lesser punishment and dispute prosecutors’ contention that the two played leadership roles in the 2020 plot. Rather, an FBI informant led the way.
“The government’s narrative that Adam Fox was a leader was exactly that, a story,” defense attorney Christopher Gibbons wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
“The evidence presented … directly contradicts any claim that Adam Fox exercised control of even one member or participant.”
Croft’s attorney, Josh Blanchard, wrote: “Mr. Croft did not have any decision-making authority. The trial testimony was that people would become frustrated with Mr. Croft because he was unable to articulate a plan and just kept talking. He did not recruit any of the charged individuals. Mr. Croft was not involved in the encrypted chat communications where details were discussed, and potential plans were floated.”
Fox, 39, of Wyoming, Michigan, and Croft, 47, of Bear, Delaware, will be sentenced later this month by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker in Grand Rapids. Prosecutors recently filed sentencing memorandums calling for life sentences.
Related: Prosecutors want life sentence for Whitmer kidnapping plot leader
A jury in August found the defendants guilty of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. It was their second trial after a jury in April could not reach unanimous verdicts. Brandon Caserta, 34, of Canton, and Daniel Harris, 24, of Lake Orion, were acquitted in that first trial.
They are among 14 men, many tied to the Wolverine Watchmen militia, to be arrested in the alleged kidnap plot. Eight faced state charges.
Related: Defendants sentenced to prison in Whitmer kidnap plot case
Joseph Morrison, 28, Pete Musico, 44, both of Munith, and Paul Bellar, 24, of Milford, were sentenced to prison this week in Jackson County Circuit Court after being convicted of providing material support for terrorist acts, attempting to commit a felony as an associate or member of a gang and felony firearm.
Musico was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years in prison. Morrison received a minimum of 10 years while Bellar was sentenced to at least seven years.
Five others were ordered last week to stand trial in Antrim County Circuit Court on charges of providing material support for terrorism.
Guilty verdict for men leading plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer
The defendants in that case are Shawn Fix, 40, of Belleville; Eric Molitor, 38, of Cadillac; Brian Higgins, 53, of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin; and twins Michael and William Null, 40, of Plainwell and Shelbyville.
Kaleb Franks, 28, of Waterford, and Ty Garbin, 26, of Livingston County, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to kidnap and cooperated with investigators. Franks was sentenced to four years in prison while Garbin, the first to plead guilty, was sentenced to 30 months.
Testimony showed that the plot involved kidnapping Whitmer from her Elk Rapids summer home, putting her on trial for treason then killing her. There was also talk of abandoning her in a disabled boat in the middle of Lake Michigan.
Federal prosecutors said the plot also included a potential deadly shootout with Whitmer’s security detail and blowing up a bridge near her home to slow police response.
Prosecutors said the defendants’ anti-government views drove the conspiracy. Croft had written on Facebook: “Which Governor is going to end up dragged off and hung for treason first?”
Croft told Fox: “Once we get a foothold, one criminal governor in our possession and we’ve captured the flag in that state. We can then start to issue terms.”
Fox, who repeatedly referred to Whitmer as a “tyrant,” said she would not be released once kidnapped, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
“Once we get her she’s ours, man. She’s getting charged man. F--- that. Either she’s going to prison or she’s getting hung. … And then after that we’re going after the others.”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nils Kessler and Christopher O’Connor said the two wanted to start a second U.S. civil war.
“A plan to kidnap and harm the Governor of Michigan is not only a threat to the officeholder but to democracy itself. The sentence imposed by this Court should reflect the incredibly dangerous threat posed by Adam Fox and Barry Croft’s attempt to light the fire of a second revolution.”
Fox is to be sentenced Dec. 27, with Croft sentenced the next day.
Their attorneys attacked the prosecution’s claims that the defendants acted as leaders – and said they had no means or ability to follow through with a kidnapping. They contended Croft and Fox were big talkers, often under the influence of marijuana.
They said that a “confidential human source,” known as “CHS Dan,” set up their clients. He devised planning scenarios to moved the plot forward.
CHS Dan planned a reconnaissance trip to the governor’s home and picked up Fox and took him there where the FBI had set up surveillance cameras.
“The idea, the initial notion to drive by the Governor’s vacation home, came directly from CHS Dan …,” Gibbons wrote. “Adam Fox did not plan to lead this activity.”
He said prosecutors portrayed Fox as a “terrifying para-military leader” with “an army with a cadre of operators,” and compared him to Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
“These histrionic descriptions of Adam Fox do not rationally address his actual conduct and they do not accurately reflect either his actual intentions or his actual capabilities. Adam Fox was an unemployed vacuum repairman who was venting his frustrations on social media … .”
Related: Guilty verdict in Whitmer kidnap case highlights anti-government threats to public officials
Blanchard, the attorney for Croft, said trial testimony clearly showed there was no actual plan. Croft had mental-health and substance-abuse problems since he was a teen, his attorney said.
Croft, a truck driver, had custody of his three girls before his arrest in October 2020.
“While the government makes much of Mr. Croft taking his daughters to the Cambria (field-training exercise in Wisconsin) and telling his daughter to step way when he was making ‘explosives,’ he loves his children very much, worked hard to be involved in their lives and tried to provide the love his father was incapable of providing to him,” Blanchard wrote.
Federal prosecutors said Croft had plans beyond kidnapping – or killing - the governor.
“(Croft) said, ‘I can’t wait for war to come to this land,’ and meant it,” Kessler wrote. “Only a life sentence can adequately address Croft’s crimes and deter him and others from pursuing such apocalyptic visions for our country.”
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