DETROIT — Adam Fox does not deserve a life sentence for plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, his lawyer said late Friday while faulting federal prosecutors for comparing Fox to Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and exaggerating the Potterville man's role.
The life sentence sought by prosecutors and guidelines that call for a stiff prison term are not appropriate because, despite tough talk recorded by FBI informants, the plotters did not use explosives and there was no attempt to kidnap Whitmer, defense lawyer Christopher Gibbons wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed in federal court in Grand Rapids.
The memo was filed four days after prosecutors said a life sentence would be sufficient for trying to "light the fire of a second revolution" after being upset about the governor's handling of pandemic restrictions. Fox, 39, is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 27 while Delaware truck driver Barry Croft will be sentenced Dec. 28 for his role in the plot.
Fox was portrayed as a ringleader of a scheme that represented the largest domestic terrorism case in a generation and that has shed light on political extremism in Michigan. So far, seven people have been convicted on state or federal charges related to the plot while an eighth individual, FBI informant Stephen Robeson, was convicted of a federal gun crime.
"Adam Fox was an unemployed vacuum repairman who was venting his frustrations on social media but abiding by the laws of the state of Michigan," Gibbons wrote. "Adam Fox is not the leader of an multi state 'army' of domestic terrorists. The government's descriptions of Adam Fox are calculated to frighten the public."
Fox and Croft, 47, are scheduled to be sentenced four months after jurors convicted them of kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction. Croft also was convicted of possessing an unregistered destructive device, a 10-year felony.
Prosecutors are trying to punish Fox as though Whitmer were actually kidnapped and as if the plotters used bombs, Gibbons argued.
"...it is undisputed that there was no actual attempt to kidnap the governor, and there was no attempt to purchase a 'weapon of mass destruction,'" he wrote.
Fox's attorney also fought the government's description of Fox as a "terrifying para-military leader" and for comparing him to McVeigh, who was executed for bombing a federal building and killing 168 people.
"These histrionic descriptions of Adam Fox do not rationally address his actual conduct and they do not accurately reflect either his actual intentions or his actual capabilities," Gibbons wrote.
He described Fox as an outcast on the fringe of society, a loner who was frequently abused as a child and raised in an unstable environment.
Fox was no leader, Gibbons argued. Accused plotters criticized Fox for lacking knowledge about firearms, having poor tactical skills and owning inferior weapons, his lawyer wrote.
"The government's narrative that Adam Fox was a leader was exactly that, a story," Gibbons wrote.
Fox's conviction followed months of criticism from defense lawyers about FBI agent misconduct and claims that a team of FBI agents and informants orchestrated the conspiracy. The government team was accused of entrapping Fox, Croft and others who were portrayed as a ragtag band of social outcasts who harbored antigovernment views.
"The lack of an actual explosive device, the extensive involvement of multiple (informants) at every stage, and the inchoate nature of the two offenses are each alone a suitable basis to sentence Adam Fox well below the guideline range," Gibbons wrote.
