Co-leader of Gretchen Whitmer Kidnapping Plot Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison

The co-leader of a plan to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for his involvement in the failed domestic terror plot, the Associated Press reports.

39-year-old Adam Fox, who was one the leaders behind the plot to abduct the Democratic governor and blow up a bridge in the group’s escape was sentenced in federal court on Tuesday for kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. Prosecutors were seeking a life sentence for Fox, but his 16 years in prison is still the longest sentence in connection with the plot so far.

The verdict on Fox comes four months after he was convicted alongside Barry Croft Jr., one of the others involved in the plot. According to investigators, Croft allegedly offered to lend his skills in making bombs while Fox served as the “driving force urging their recruits to take up arms, kidnap the governor and kill those who stood in their way.” The two were arrested alongside 12 others, who hoped to kidnap Whitmer and violently overthrow the state government.

Judge Robert J. Jonker argued that a life sentence for Fox was “not necessary,” and said that 16 years “is still in my mind a very long time” behind bars. “It’s too much," he said of the life sentence. "Something less than life gets the job done in this case." Fox will serve five years of supervised release following his time behind bars. He was a part of a paramilitary group that was infiltrated by the FBI, but he has maintained his innocence despite the evidence against him.

“My client stands on the record, maintains his innocence and he looks forward to getting it all before the panel at the Court of Appeals,” Fox's attorney Christopher Gibbons told reporters on Tuesday.