Adam Fox sentenced to 16 years in prison for conspiring to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN: The co-leader of a 2020 plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and to use a weapon of mass destruction was sentenced to 16 years in prison and five years of supervision by the federal court on December 27, even though the prosecutors sought a life-term sentence.
Adam Fox appeared in front of the Grand Rapids federal court's Judge Robert Jonker after he and codefendant Barry Croft were convicted in August 2022 on charges of plotting to kidnap and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. Croft was also convicted of possessing an unregistered destructive device, reports the New York Post.
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In April, two others were acquitted by a federal jury for their alleged involvement which led to a mistrial of Fox, and Croft as a final verdict could not be reached. In earlier trials, two others admitted to being part of the plotting.
Describing Fox as the “driving force urging their recruits to take up arms, kidnap the governor and kill those who stood in their way,” and pointing out the lethal bomb-making skills of Croft, the prosecutors asked Judge Richard Jonker to sentence him a life term.
According to Detroit News, in a court filing, Assistant US Attorney Nils Kessler wrote: “When the aim of that kidnapping is to terrorize the people and affect the conduct of government, it is so pernicious that only the most serious sanction is sufficient.”
“The sentence imposed by this court should reflect the incredibly dangerous threat posed by Adam Fox and Barry Croft’s attempt to light the fire of a second revolution,” he added.
As Fox's sentencing was issued on Tuesday, Croft will be sentenced on Wednesday, December 28. As per the New York Post report, Jonker stated that 39-year-old Fox’s sentencing had to be a reflection of the need for punishment and to prevent other similar acts, but considered that the life-sentence request from prosecutors was “not necessary to achieve those purposes.”
The judge said that sentencing 16 years in prison “is still in my mind a very long time,” as Jonker said that "the life sentence is too much. Something less than life gets the job done in this case.”
Known as the Wolverine Watchmen, Fox and Croft were part of a paramilitary group that plotted to kidnap the now 51-year-old Governor Whitmer from her vacation home following the frustration they had at her COVID-19 restrictions imposed statewide in 2020.
Fox previously said that “people need to stop with the misplaced anger and place the anger where it should go, and that’s against our tyrannical … government,” according to the news outlet.
The plot was prevented from accomplishing by the FBI informants inside the group and the governor was left physically unharmed. Calling Fox an “unemployed vacuum repairman who was venting his frustrations on social media,” Fox’s lawyer, Christopher Gibbons, rejected claims that Fox was a revolutionary leader.
Apparently, attorneys of the accused two men, Fox and Croft, plan to seek a third trial.