Adam Fox, one of six defendants charged in the 2020 attempted kidnapping of Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison, becoming the third to go to prison for the events.
Fox, 39, was sentenced Tuesday to spend the next 16 years behind bars and not life in prison as prosecutors had requested, after U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker questioned whether he was a «natural leader» in the scheme, as the prosecution argued.
«I do not believe that a life sentence is necessary to achieve the significant public deterrence factor» of the verdict, explained Judge Jonker, who said he found no evidence that would lead him to believe that Fox is the type of person a group might instinctively follow.
Meanwhile, the prosecution has insisted that Fox was seeking «a second Civil War, or a revolution» and that he will remain a dangerous man, even «more radicalized,» when he is released from prison, NBC reports.
Fox is the third person to go to prison for these events after Kaleb Franks and Ty Garbin, albeit with sentences ranging from two to four years. They were part of a far-right militia that called itself Wolverine Watchmen and also included two other people who were eventually acquitted.
The sixth in contention is Barry Croft Jr, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday. Both he and Fox were considered the ringleaders of the scheme. According to the investigation, these men were dissatisfied with the measures and restrictions imposed by the governor to stop COVID-19, so they decided to orchestrate its kidnapping.
The case dates back to early 2020, when Army veteran Dan Chappel joined this group, but was alarmed by the intentions of the rest, who were even talking about killing several police officers. Since then, he became an FBI informant and was a key witness in the trial against these individuals.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
