Second Whitmer Kidnap Plot Leader Gets Nearly 20 Years In Prison

MICHIGAN — A second leader in the kidnapping plot targeting Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was sentenced to prison Wednesday.

Barry Croft Jr., 47, was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison by Judge Robert J. Jonker, who described him as "the idea guy" behind the plot and called him "a very convincing communicator" for people who were open to his views.

Croft Jr. is the fourth and final federal defendant to be sentenced in the plot. The other leader in the plot was Adam Fox, 39, who was sent to prison Tuesday for 16 years.

Both Croft Jr. and Fox were part of a group of men that intended to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation cottage near Elk Rapids and use weapons of mass destruction to blow up a bridge to hinder responding police, according to prosecutors.

The group planned the kidnapping plot out of frustrations to the COVID-19 restrictions Whitmer had put in place during the early months of the pandemic, prosecutors said.

Federal agents foiled the plot before Whitmer was harmed and arrested 14 total people in connection to the plot.

Brandon Caserta and Daniel Harris were found not guilty, while Croft Jr. and Fox were given a mistrial. Both Croft Jr. and Fox were given a new trial, and a jury found them both guilty on all charges, including conspiring to kidnap Whitmer and to use weapons of mass destruction against persons or property.

Two others, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, pleaded guilty to federal kidnapping conspiracy charges and testified as the government's star witnesses. Garbin already is free after a 2 1/2-year prison term, while Kaleb Franks was given a four-year sentence.

The Associated Press contributed to this report