The federal government has wrapped up its case in the retrial of two men charged with plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation home in an alleged scheme that involved killing her security detail and blowing up a bridge to slow down cops — all because they were upset over her handling of the pandemic.
Defense attorneys for defendants Adam Fox and Barry Croft are not expected to call many witnesses, meaning jurors could begin their deliberations after closing arguments Friday.
After the government rested, the defense sought an acquittal from the judge, arguing the government had not proven its case based on the evidence presented. But the judge concluded that a reasonable jury could find the defendants guilty — not that they should, but that they could — and denied the request.
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Jurors heard from a handful of government witnesses Thursday, mostly FBI agents and analyses who gathered and examined evidence shortly after the October 2020 arrests of six men facing federal charges in the alleged kidnapping plot. Five were arrested in an FBI sting outside a Ypsilanti warehouse. Croft was arrested at a gas station in New Jersey.
The government rested its case after seven days of testimony from more than a dozen witnesses, including Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks — two co-defendants who pleaded guilty early on and agreed to testify against their alleged cohorts.
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Franks and Garbin testified in the first trial, which ended in no convictions after five days of jury deliberations. The jury acquitted defendants Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta and deadlocked on the charges against Fox and Croft, triggering a mistrial.
The defense subpoenaed Harris and Caserta to testify in the retrial, but both men opted not to testify.
If convicted, Fox and Croft both face up to life in prison on kidnapping conspiracy and conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction.
The jury was dismissed at 1:30 p.m. Thursday after hearing from the defense’s first witness: a friend of Croft who attended many of the events that were cited during trial.
Tresa Baldas:tbaldas@freepress.com
