19-year sentence for second ringleader in Michigan governor kidnap plot

A man who prosecutors say was one of the ringleaders in a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison.

Barry Croft Jr, 47, was convicted in August of plotting to kidnap the Democratic governor two years ago.

His prison sentence comes a day after another co-conspirator, Adam Fox, 39, was sentenced to 16 years.

Prosecutors had asked for life in prison for Croft.

The defendants targeted Ms Whitmer because of stringent Covid-19 restrictions she imposed early in the pandemic, according to prosecutors.

Croft was "more culpable" than Fox, US District Judge Robert Jonker said when handing down the 235 month sentence on Wednesday, according to US media reports.

"I think he was the person who gave Mr Fox something to grab on to," he said.

In August, a jury determined that the two men were guilty of kidnapping conspiracy. They were also convicted of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction as they allegedly planned to obtain a bomb to blow up a bridge to thwart a police response to the planned kidnapping.

Croft, a native of Bear, Delaware, was convicted on a separate explosives charge.

It was the second federal trial for both after a mistrial early this year.

Both men were members of right-wing militia group Three Percenters.

Fox and others had planned to kidnap Ms Whitmer from her vacation home at gunpoint, and take her to stand "trial" on bogus treason charges, according to prosecutors.

The militia group's kidnap plot was largely motivated by their opposition to public health measures during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, prosecutors said Fox - of Wyoming, Michigan - had hoped to spark a "second American revolution" and push the US into armed conflict ahead of what proved to be a contentious presidential race in November 2020.

Back in August, lawyers representing Fox and Croft suggested the pair had been incapable of mounting such a plot.

They argued the men had been entrapped - or improperly induced into the crime - by an undercover FBI operation.

Two men involved in the plot who pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy charges testified for the prosecution at the first federal trial as well as during Fox and Croft's retrial.

One of the witnesses, Ty Garbin, was eventually sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, while the other, Kaleb Franks, was sentenced to four years.

In October, three other men were convicted in a state court of supporting the plot to kidnap Ms Whitmer, who was recently re-elected for a second term in office.

A jury also found Joseph Morrison, 28, his father-in-law Pete Musico, 44, and Paul Bellar, 23, guilty of gang membership, firearms violations and providing material to support terrorism.