By Steve Neavling
Update: 12:55 p.m. Tuesday — Adam Fox, the ring leader of the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Grand Rapids to 16 years in prison.
Fox, 39, of Wyoming, Michigan, and co-conspirator Barry Croft Jr., 47, of Bear, Delaware, were convicted by a federal jury in August during an 11-day retrial. Croft is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday.
Authorities charged that Fox and Croft planned to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation cottage near Elk Rapids, Michigan, and use destructive devices to harm her security detail and any responding law enforcement officers. As part of the plan, they explored placing a bomb under an interstate overpass near a pedestrian boardwalk. Croft was also convicted of possessing an improvised explosive device, which was a commercial firework refashioned with shrapnel to serve as a hand-grenade, authorities said in a press release.
“Today, Mr. Fox learned his fate. For his role in the plot to kidnap the Governor and trigger further violence, he will serve a long term in prison,” said former U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge for the Western District of Michigan, appointed to oversee the trial. “Responding to domestic terrorism has been a priority for the Department of Justice since its founding. Rest assured: we will spare no effort to disrupt plots like these and hold those responsible accountable to the law.”
A jury in an earlier trial failed to reach verdict.
Whitmer, a Democrat, was never harmed during the plot, and was re-elected in November, beating Republican challenger Tudor Dixon, a Trump-endorsed candidate, 54.5 percent to about 44.9 percent.
From an Earlier Report Tuesday
Fox faces up to life in prison.
Fox was convicted by a jury in August. It was the second trial for Fox. Months earlier, a jury couldn’t reach a verdict.
Fox was found guilty of conspiring to abduct Whitmer and blow up a bridge to assist in his escape in northern Michigan.
Several others involved in the plot have already been sentenced.
Another two were acquitted.
Fox’s co-defendant Barry Croft Jr. is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday.
