A Michigan federal judge sentenced Barry Croft Jr. to nearly 20 years in prison for his part as the co-leader of a conspiracy to kidnap Gov. This was the longest sentence in the bizarre case that could potentially have resulted in untold violence based on social media posts and secretly recorded conversations that revealed plans to spark a reign of terror in 2020.
Croft, seen by the prosecution as the spiritual leader and prophet of the local militia, is the last of the defendants to be sentenced in the case. Croft's plan to use his grenade launcher and a mounted machine gun to thwart law enforcement was part of the judge's sentencing rationale. He also took into account Croft's previous criminal history. The judge asked the judge to sentence Croft to life in prison.
Adam Fox, the co-conspirator of Croft, received a hefty 16 year sentence this week. The government said Croft offered bomb-making skills and ideology while Fox was the driving force urging their recruits to take up arms, kidnap the governor and kill those who stood in their way. In October 2021, more than a dozen people were charged with a plot following Gov. Whitmer made a statement when she said Trump encourages hate groups and gives comfort to those who spread fear and hatred and division. The former president called for people to liberate Michigan before he was kicked off Twitter. Trial evidence showed that Croft practiced detonating an explosive filled with shrapnel at a training event using human silhouettes made of paper.
The prosecutor Nils Kessler told the court that Croft was thoroughly radicalized, despite the fact that he did not speak at the sentencing. Kessler said that the abduction of the governor was only meant to be the beginning of Croft's reign of terror. He called for riots, torching government officials in their sleep and setting off a domino effect of violence across the country. Joshua Blanchard, Croft's attorney, had asked the judge to consider his client's history of substance abuse and mental health concerns related to his excessive marijuana use and family medical history.
The jury had heard about the defendants' weed consumption on a regular basis, according to local press reports at the time of the trial.
Blanchard told jurors at the August trial that Croft was frankly high on marijuana and was described by some as a stoner pirate kind of whack nut in a tri-cornered colonial hat.
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