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March 24 (UPI) -- A man who pleaded guilty to a scheme to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer testified Thursday that he expected to die in a police shootout. Kaleb Franks made the remark while testifying against four other men charged in the same attempted kidnapping.
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He was the second person convicted in the case.
"I was hoping I would be killed in the process. I no longer wanted to live," Franks told the court.
"I thought that it was a very risky choice. I mean, getting in a shootout with police, you're bound to die."
Franks was expected to continue testifying Friday. His guilty plea to the federal kidnapping conspiracy charge is punishable by up to life in prison.
Attorneys for Barry Croft, Adam Fox, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta argued the group was high on marijuana and set up and entrapped by FBI informants.
Defense attorney Joshua Blanchard argued the men proposed plots such as tying Whitmer to a kite and flying her over a lake, which the FBI should have recognized as absurd.
A sixth man, Ty Garbin, pleaded guilty to plotting to kidnap Whitmer last year over her pandemic-related orders and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Garbin testified at the trial ahead of Franks, and prosecutors are attempting to use their testimony to refute defense claims.
