Waterford Twp. man pleads guilty over plot to kidnap Whitmer

A Waterford Township man admitted Wednesday that he plotted to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and said federal investigators and informants did not entrap him or his co-conspirators.

The admission and guilty plea by Kaleb Franks in federal court in Grand Rapids gives prosecutors a second key insider who is expected to testify next month at the trial of four other men accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer. The case has shed light on violent extremism in Michigan motivated by anger over restrictions Whitmer imposed during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In pleading guilty to kidnapping conspiracy, a felony punishable by up to life in federal prison, Franks, 27, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Phillip Green that the group conceived of the plot. That admission is designed to combat an expected entrapment defense by lawyers who have raised questions about the conduct of FBI agents and informants.

“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.

Sentencing was set for June 8.

The plea hearing was held six months after Hartland Township resident Ty Garbin, 26, pleaded guilty over the plot. He is serving a six-year prison sentence.

Defense lawyers have argued there was no plot and the conspiracy was driven by FBI agents and informants.

Franks' plea deal includes a section aimed at fighting an expected entrapment defense during next month's trial. The section describes how Franks learned after he was arrested in October 2020 that the FBI used undercover agents and as many as a dozen informants.

“The defendant was not entrapped or induced to commit any crimes by these individuals,” the plea deal reads.

The four men scheduled to stand trial are: Potterville resident Adam Fox, Delaware truck driver Barry Croft, Lake Orion resident Daniel Harris and Canton Township resident Brandon Caserta. Eight others are facing state charges.

“The defendant also knows Fox, Croft, Harris and Caserta were not entrapped, based on personal observation and discussions," the plea deal reads.

For example, the group's alleged ringleaders, Fox and Croft, initiated discussions about kidnapping Whitmer, prosecutors wrote.

The section appears aimed at proving the defendants were predisposed to committing the crime, a requirement needed in order to secure convictions at trial.

“The defendant also heard Harris and Caserta express similar anti-government sentiments during his private discussions with them, when no government informant was present,” the plea deal reads. “During all their months of training together, the defendant never heard Fox, Croft, Harris, or Caserta say they were doing anything because (informant) Dan, (informant) Steve, or any other informant had advocated it.”

In the plea agreement filed Monday, prosecutors charted Franks’ growing involvement with members of a group that has focused attention on extremism fueled by opposition to state restrictions imposed by Whitmer during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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.”

rsnell@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @robertsnellnews