Whitmer conspirator Barry Croft sentenced to more than 19 years in prison

Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Among the ringleaders in a suspected plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, 47-year-old Barry Croft Jr. was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 20 years in prison on conspiracy charges.

A Delaware truck driver, Croft was described as the main force behind a kidnapping and broader political plot targeting Whitmer, ostensibly for her politics and strict policies enacted during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prosecutors were looking for life behind bars, though the judge handed down a sentence of 235 months -- roughly 19 ½ years -- for his role in the plot.

Democrat Gretchen Whitmer (C) was the target of a kidnapping plot in 2020. Several key members of the conspiracy were given lengthy prison sentences for their role in the plot. Whitmer was elected to a second term in November. File photo by Rena Laverty/EPA-EFE

U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker said Croft and his fellow conspirators were not fond of the governor's political stance and were plotting to potentially assassinate Whitmer. He said he agreed with prosecutors that charges were serious, but did not necessarily warrant a life sentence.

"We were never going to experience the worst here because law enforcement intervened early," he was quoted by the Detroit Free Press as saying.

The plot was foiled when a one-time militia member turned and started working with federal law enforcement, serving as the prosecution's key witness.

Croft's defense attorney, Joshua Blanchard, called for mercy before the court, arguing that isolation took a toll both before the pandemic during long hours on the road and during the pandemic due to tight social restrictions.

"He went way down a conspiracy rabbit hole," he added, according to the Free Press.

Defendants argued that the government's case against them relied on entrapment by out-of-control FBI agents and informants, including the government's star witness who turned against the conspirators.

Sentencing for Croft came one day after the judge ordered fellow ringleader Adam Fox, 39, to serve 16 years behind bars for his role in the 2020 kidnapping plot.

Fox was arrested in an FBI sting operation in Ypsilanti, Mich., in October 2020 in which federal authorities allege he and four other men were trying to purchase explosives to carry out the plan against the governor.

Two men, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, pleaded guilty to charges tied to the plot. Two other men, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, were found not guilty by a jury in April. Harris was acquitted on all four counts and Caserta was acquitted on a single count of kidnapping conspiracy.

In August, a jury found Fox and Croft guilty after previous trials for both men resulted in hung juries. Fox was convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and of trying to use a weapon of mass destruction to attack the governor.

Whitmer beat out Tudor Dixon, a candidate hand-picked by former President Donald Trump, to secure a second term in office in November.

The case was heard at a district court in Grand Rapids, Mich.