GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Delaware trucker described as the architect of the plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan was sentenced Wednesday to more than 19 years in prison — the longest sentence ever given to anyone convicted in the conspiracy.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Barry Croft Jr., 47, who was the fourth and final federal defendant to know his fate. Judge Robert J. Jonker described him as the “idea” behind the plot and called him a “very persuasive communicator” for people open to his views.
“As twisted or irrational as it may seem to many of us, it resonated with the intended audience,” Judge said. “It’s as important a method of leadership as being out there telling people where to go.”
Defense attorney Joshua Blanchard said he would appeal the conviction.
Croft and Adam Fox were Sentenced in August for conspiracy in Grand Rapids. Croft was also convicted of possession of an unregistered explosive.
Fox, 39, was sentenced Tuesday to 16 years behind bars. The government also requested a life sentence against him.
The two men were accused of hatching an astounding plot to kidnap the governor. Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation home just before the 2020 presidential election. Inspirations were furious at the strict COVID-19 restrictions that Whitmer and officials in other states had put in place during the early months of the pandemic, as well as perceived threats to gun ownership.
Whitmer was not physically injured. The FBI was secretly integrated into the group and made 14 arrests.
There is talk of a plot to physically kidnap the Governor, potentially murdering her as well. It doesn’t get much more serious than that,” Jonker said before announcing Croft’s sentencing. “The group had a lot of guns. This group had all kinds of material ready to be used to achieve their ends.”
Assistant US Attorney Nils Kessler called Croft the “spiritual leader” of the group of conspirators, likening his role to that of “some ISIS sheikh”.
“He was basically presenting himself as a prophet … there are people who believe that kind of rhetoric, and he used it,” Kessler told the judge.
This man is totally radicalized. He didn’t change his perspective,” Kessler added. “He doesn’t admit ideas are wrong because he still holds them. It was all Mr. Croft’s idea.”
Whitmer’s office declined to comment on Wednesday. She said in August that the guilty verdicts proved that “those who seek to divide us will be held accountable.” She also said such plots are “a disturbing extension of radicalized domestic terrorism” that threatens “the very foundation of our republic.”
Croft regularly wore the type of tricorn hat common during the American Revolution and had tattoos on his arms symbolizing the resistance – “Expect Us” – as he traveled to Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan to meet like-minded extremists.
A different jury in Grand Rapids was unable to rule on the pair at the first trial last spring, but acquitted two other men.
The kidnapping was meant to be the start of a “reign of terror,” Kessler said in court documents. Croft’s plan called for rioting, “burning down” government officials in their sleep and sparking violence across the country.
In a key piece of evidence, Croft, Fox and others traveled to view Whitmer’s vacation home in northern Michigan, along with undercover agents and informants inside the cabal.
At one point, Croft told his allies, “I don’t like seeing anybody get killed either. But you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, you know what I mean?
Croft’s lawyer tried to soften his client’s role. In a court filing, Blanchard said Croft had no real authority over others and often frustrated them because he “just talked.”
Croft “went down a conspiratorial rabbit hole,” Blanchard said Wednesday, asking for a less than life sentence.
When the pandemic hit, a lot of people went down a similar rabbit hole and suddenly Mr. Croft was in contact with a lot of people who felt the same way he did,” Blanchard told the judge.
Blanchard, who got emotional in the courtroom when talking about Croft’s three children, told reporters outside the courthouse that the sentence meant Croft wouldn’t see his children grow up.
Blanchard also maintained that Croft was not the “ideas guy” he describes. He insisted that “most of what Mr. Croft said he was ruled out because the government didn’t want the jury to hear it.
Two men who pleaded guilty and tested against Fox and Croft received substantial breaks: Ty Garbin is already free after a prison sentence of 2 and a half years, while Kaleb Franks was sentenced to a four-year sentence.
In state court, three men recently received long sentences for helping Fox in the summer of 2020. Five others are awaiting trial in County Antrim, where Whitmer’s holiday home is located.
When the plot was extinguished, Whitmer blamed then-President Donald Trump, saying he had “comforted those who sow fear, hatred and division.” In August, 19 months after leaving office, Trump declared the kidnapping plan a “fake deal”.
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Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this story. Joey Cappelletti is a member of The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues.
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