The other co-leader convicted of conspiracy charges in the foiled plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 20 years in prison.
Barry Croft Jr., for whom prosecutors had recommended a life sentence, learned his punishment a day after key ally Adam Fox was sentenced to 16 years.
Croft was sentenced to 19 years and seven months.
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.
ADAM FOX CONVICTED FOR ROLE IN WHITMER TRACKING PLOT
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Barry Croft Jr. (AP/Carlos Osorio/Delaware Department of Justice)
The conspirators were furious over the tough COVID-19 restrictions Whitmer and other state officials had put in place in the early months of the pandemic, as well as perceived threats to gun ownership.
Croft, a truck driver from Delaware, regularly wore a three-cornered hat common during the American Revolution and had tattoos on his arms symbolizing resistance — “Wait for us” — as he traveled to Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan to meet with like-minded extremists . , according to the Associated Press.
“While he may not have had hierarchical control over all the other participants, he coordinated and drove the implementation of the conspiracy from its inception to its final stages,” Assistant US Attorney Nils Kessler said in a filing judicial
“The only step left was for the governor to show up at his house so they could put their plan into action, but luckily it was still out of his control,” the prosecutor said.
Whitmer was not physically harmed. The FBI, which was secretly embedded in the group, broke things up a month before the 2020 presidential election and arrested 14 people.
ORDERING PROVIDENCE FOR 5 MEN IN A CONSPIRACY TO SECRET MICHIGAN GOV. WHITMER
This undated file photo combination shows, from left, Paul Bellar, Joseph Morrison and Pete Musico. They were recently convicted of supporting the foiled plot. (Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
“The governor’s kidnapping was only to be the beginning of Croft’s reign of terror,” Kessler said. “He called for riots, ‘setting fire’ to government officials while they sleep and causing a ‘dominion’ effect of violence across the country.”
One key piece of evidence: Croft, Fox and others traveled to see Whitmer’s vacation home in northern Michigan, with undercover agents and informants within the cabal.
At one point, Croft told the allies, “I don’t like to see anybody get killed either. But you don’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, you know what I mean?”
WHITMER TRACK PLANT: 3 MEN CONVICTED OF SUPPORTING A TERRORIST ACT
This image provided by the Kent County, Michigan Jail. shows Adam Fox. Fox, the co-leader of a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. (Kent County Jail via AP)
Croft’s lawyer tried to play down his client’s role. In a court filing, Joshua Blanchard said the bear man, Delaware, didn’t really have authority over others and often frustrated them to “keep talking.”
Croft like smoking 2 ounces of marijuana per week, Blanchard said.
“Simply put, to the extent that the jury determined that he was a participant, as they necessarily were, he was a participant to a lesser degree than the others,” Blanchard insisted.
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Two men who pleaded guilty and testified against Fox and Croft received substantial breaks: Ty Garbin is now free after serving 2 1/2 years in prison, while Kaleb Franks received a four-year sentence.
In state court, three men recently received lengthy sentences for aiding Fox in the early summer of 2020. Five others are awaiting trial in County Antrim, where Whitmer’s vacation home is located.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Greg Norman is a reporter for Fox News Digital.