Two men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will face a new trial in August.
That was the decision from Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker after a jury in April failed to reach verdicts for 46-year-old Barry Croft Jr., of Delaware, and 38-year-old Adam Fox, of Wyoming, Michigan.
That same jury acquitted two other defendants; Daniel Harris, 24, of Lake Orion, and Brandon Caserta, 34, of Canton.
26-year-old Ty Garbin of Hartland Township, and 27-year-old Kaleb Franks of Waterford, previously pleaded guilty to kidnap conspiracy. Garbin is serving a sentence of six years, three months in prison. Franks is awaiting sentencing. Both men testified for the prosecution in the first trial.
The decision to retry Croft and Fox came in response to a motion by their attorneys for an acquittal which cited the not guilty verdict against their co-defendants.
Prosecutors argued that Croft and Fox trained together and conducted a late-night reconnaissance mission to the governor’s summer home in Northern Michigan.
They are among 14 defendants who have faced charges in state and federal courts related to the alleged conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer from her lakefront house in Antrim County’s Elk Rapids in 2020.
Barry Croft Jr., left, and Adam Dean Fox
