US Supreme Court denies appeal of Whitmer kidnap ringleader Barry Croft

Robert Snell, The Detroit News on Jan 14, 2026

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The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear the case of Barry Croft Jr., one of the ringleaders of a plot to kidnap and harm Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, meaning he will likely remain in federal prison barring a pardon or commutation from President Donald Trump.

The court's order denying Croft's petition for a writ of certiorari was filed in federal court in Michigan on Wednesday, nine months after a federal appeals court panel affirmed the convictions of Croft and fellow ringleader Adam Fox, calling the crime a "textbook conspiracy."

They received lengthy federal prison sentences in December 2022 for heading a plot to kidnap Whitmer after becoming angered over her COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Croft, 50, was sentenced to almost 20 years in prison and five years of supervised release, while Fox, 42, was sentenced to 16 years in prison and five years' supervision.

They are serving the sentences at the Supermax federal prison in Colorado. That's the most secure federal prison in the country and is filled with convicted terrorists, including Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is serving four life sentences for trying to blow up an airplane over Metro Detroit on Christmas Day 2009.

In May, Trump said he would "take a look at" pardoning the ringleaders. Trump told reporters at the White House the trial against Fox and Croft appeared to be "somewhat of a railroad job" and argued people say "stupid things."

"I will take a look at it. It's been brought to my attention," Trump told a Detroit News reporter who asked a question about the case in the Oval Office. The Republican president added that "a lot of people from both sides" are asking him about potential pardons for the men.

The president's comments came six days after Ed Martin Jr., the U.S. Justice Department's pardon attorney, said on "The Breana Morello Show" podcast he would take a "hard look" at pardoning the men he called "victims just like Jan. 6."

Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of 1,500 people convicted of crimes committed during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, including at least 45 Michiganians.

The president's willingness to consider pardons marked a reversal of his prior statement to Whitmer, the governor said last year.

Following Trump's comments, Whitmer told the Michigan Public Radio Network: "I talked to the president about a month ago, and he asked me how I'd feel about this, and I said, 'I think it would be the wrong decision, I would oppose it.' And he said, 'OK, I'll drop it.' Now we see this revelation. So I'm not sure how to process it."

Whitmer later said she had talked to Trump but declined to provide specifics.

"I will just confirm that I have connected with the president directly on this subject and made my thoughts known," Whitmer told WWJ and other members of the media. "And beyond that, I'm not gonna share more about our conversation, but hopefully he'll take some of those things into consideration when he makes a decision."

Croft of Delaware and Fox of Grand Rapids were arrested in October 2020 and convicted of conspiracy in federal court in Grand Rapids in 2022.

Federal prosecutors portrayed the two men as the leaders of a group of anti-government extremists who planned to kidnap the governor at her vacation home in northern Michigan.

The appeals court panel's opinion last year marked a rejection of defense arguments that the kidnap plot ringleaders were entrapped by a team of undercover FBI agents and informants.

The judges noted how Fox proposed kidnapping Whitmer and “proposed, planned, and participated in both reconnaissance trips to Governor Whitmer’s home.”

The opinion was written by Judges Joan Larsen, Chad Readler — both of whom were appointed by President Donald Trump — and Stephanie Dawkins Davis, a former federal judge in Detroit appointed by former President Joe Biden.

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