DETROIT — Kaleb Franks, a central figure in the largest domestic terrorism investigation in a generation who admitted to plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, was sentenced to four years in federal prison Thursday.
The sentence represented a big break because Franks pleaded guilty to a charge punishable by up to life in prison. Prosecutors and his lawyer argued Franks deserved the break because he testified against two ringleaders during two federal trials in Grand Rapids and helped convince jurors the would-be kidnappers were not entrapped by a team of undercover FBI agents and informants.
U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker credited the 28-year-old Waterford Township resident for pleading guilty, enduring the stress and toll of cooperating and testifying against others.
“Testifying not only once, but twice, where literally the nation is focused on what you’re doing, it does I think take a greater toll and exact a greater price,” Jonker said.
Franks is the second plotter sentenced to prison for their role in a high-profile case that shed light on extremism in Michigan by a group bent on achieving political change through violence. The group, including Hartland Township resident Ty Garbin, who was sentenced to 30 months after being the first person to plead guilty, was angered by restrictions imposed by Whitmer during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the group hoped to spark a second Civil War.
During brief remarks to the judge, Franks apologized to Whitmer.
"I want to start by saying I’m sorry to the governor and her family," Franks said. "I understand that this experience had to have been very traumatizing and difficult. I’m ashamed and embarrassed and I regret every decision I made."
Prosecutors said Franks deserved a substantial sentence that deters people who want to achieve political change through violence.
The sentence “should send a message that people who want to do this are not patriots, they are insurrectionists bent on treason and they should be deterred from doing that," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler told the judge.
Franks has spent two years in county jails since being arrested during an FBI sweep in October 2020.
Franks and Garbin played a key role in the trials, providing an insider's view of the plot, the prosecutor wrote, and rebutted defense claims that the kidnap scheme was "'hypothetical or 'live-action role-playing.'"
The plot's ringleaders, Potterville resident Adam Fox, 39, and Delaware trucker Barry Croft, 46, will be sentenced in December. They are part of a broader group of 14 people charged in federal and state courts in connection with the kidnapping plot.
The sentencing Thursday coincided with the trial of three accused plotters in Jackson County. Peter Musico, 43; his son-in-law, Joseph Morrison, 27; and acquaintance Paul Bellar, 22, are charged with providing material support for terrorism in the plot to kidnap Whitmer. They also face gang membership and felony firearm charges.
Franks pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy in February, telling U.S. Magistrate Judge Phillip Green the group conceived of the plot.
“Did any law enforcement officers suggest kidnapping the governor?” the magistrate asked.
“No, sir," Franks said.
“Did they suggest committing any other crimes?” Green asked.
“No, sir," Franks said.
“Did the plot to kidnap the governor originate solely with you and others charged in the conspiracy?” the magistrate asked.
“Yes, sir," Franks said.
In the plea agreement, prosecutors charted Franks’ growing involvement with members of the group.
According to the plea agreement, Franks conspired with four others from June 2020 to October 2020.
Franks connected with members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a Michigan militia, through a Facebook firearms group in spring 2020, was invited to a protest in Lake Orion and met Harris, according to the plea deal.
During a July meeting in Milford, the accused plotters discussed a proposal to “black bag politicians,” according to the court filing.
“The defendant and Harris thought the plan wouldn't work at that time, but later changed their minds,” the plea agreement reads. “The group agreed that it remained an ‘open discussion’ as to when exactly it was appropriate to launch aggressive measures against the government.”
Planning intensified in August when Fox conducted daytime surveillance of the governor’s vacation home in northern Michigan and sent photographs of the house to other members of the alleged plot, prosecutors wrote.
In mid-September 2020, Franks traveled to a remote camp in Luther owned by Garbin and helped him build a firing range and training outpost for the kidnap plotters, prosecutors wrote. They used construction equipment to build the firing range and Franks acquired hundreds of used tires from a tire shop.
“The defendants constructed a ‘shoot house’ and used it to practice breaching a residence with firearms,” the plea deal reads. “Fox and Croft said it would serve as a 'mockup' of the governor's home.”
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