A Delaware truck driver who has been described as the mastermind of a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 has been sentenced to 19 years in jail.
Barry Croft Jr. 47, received the longest sentence of the four co-conspirators Wednesday, just one day after his ally Adam Fox was sentenced to 16 years behind bars. Both men were convicted in August of conspiracy charges at a trial in Grand Rapids.
They were accused of running a plot to abduct the governor from her vacation home just before the 2020 presidential election in an effort to ignite a 'Civil War' over what they deemed to be unconstitutional COVID-19 restrictions.
But the FBI was secretly embedded in the group, and was able to foil the plot before the governor could be physically harmed.
Barry Croft Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to 19 years behind bars for his role in a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
The governor was not harmed in the plot as the FBI was able to foil the scheme
Croft's sentence amounts to seven months for kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, a concurrent 10 years for possession of an unregistered destruction device and five years f supervised release.
Hewas also ordered to pay $3,500 in fines, and was ordered to participate in substance abuse programs, according to WOOD-TV.
Prosecutors had pushed for Croft to receive a life sentence for his role in the scheme, arguing that his social media posts and secretly-recorded conversations revealed he wanted to spark a 'reign of terror' in 2020.
They say the Delaware trucker was the 'spiritual leader' of the group, who came up with a plan to snatch the governor from her Elk Rapids vacation home and blow up bridges to slow down police chasing after them.
'Although he may not have had hierarchical control over all the other participants, he coordinated and pushed the implementation of the conspiracy from its inception to its final stages,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said in a court filing.
'The only remaining step was for the governor to appear at her cottage so they could launch their plan, but fortunately she was still beyond their control,' the prosecutor said.
He argued that Croft would travel to Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan to meet with like-minded extremists, and served as a 'spiritual leader' to the group, even comparing Croft to top leaders of al-Qaeda and ISIS because he used religious justification for the scheme.
Ultimately, Kessler said, Croft, who regularly wore a tri-cornered hat common during the American Revolution and had tattoos on his arms symbolizing resistance — reading 'Expect Us' — had hoped to spark a 'second Civil War' in the country.
'The abduction of the governor was only meant to be the beginning of Croft's reign of terror,' he wrote in court documents. 'He called for riots, "torching" government officials in their sleep and setting off a "domino" effect of violence across the country.'
At one point, Kessler said, Croft, Fox and his other co-conspirators even traveled to Whitmer's vacation home in northern Michigan with undercover agents, and said: 'I don't like seeing anybody get killed either. But you don't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, you know what I mean?'
Kessler argued that a life sentence would prevent Croft from inciting further violence, noting that the victim of the plan is a government official.
Croft, a Delaware truck driver, was known for wearing a tri-cornered hat like those common during the American Revolution and traveling across the country to meet with like-minded extremists
But Croft's defense attorney argued in court on Wednesday that because the group never actually attempted to blow up a bridge, a life sentence was not appropriate.
Joshua Blanchard added that he was 'not the leader that Mr. Fox was,' saying Croft did not actually have any authority over the others in his cabal, and would even frustrate them because he 'just kept talking.'
He also said that Croft had been radicalized in the years leading up to the global pandemic, and found others with similar thinking after it began — but argued that Croft was the victim of mental health problems and substance abuse issues.
Blanchard said that Croft's trial and arrest seemed to shake him out of the depths of his conspiracy 'rabbit hole,' and the so-called mastermind — who is now sober — has been 'shocked' to hear some of the things he previously said.
'Mr. Croft in 2020 said [a] lot of scary things,' Blanchard admitted. 'But I can tell you that he's been humble, polite and appropriate' in his dealings with his attorney.
Fox, 39, and Croft, 47, were convicted of two counts of conspiracy at a trial in August. Croft was also found guilty of possessing an unregistered explosive.
A previous jury in Grand Rapids, Michigan, couldn't reach a verdict on the pair at the first trial last spring but acquitted two other men.
Two men who pleaded guilty and testified against Fox and Croft received substantial breaks: Ty Garbin is already free after a 2 1/2-year prison term, while Kaleb Franks was given a four-year sentence.
In state court, three men recently were given lengthy sentences for assisting Fox earlier in the summer of 2020. Five more are awaiting trial in Antrim County, where Whitmer´s vacation home is located.
When the plot was extinguished, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had given 'comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division.'
In August, 19 months after leaving office, Trump said the kidnapping plan was a 'fake deal.'
English (United States) ·