Feds Seek Delay In Sentencing Man In Whitmer Kidnap Plot

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Prosecutors asked a judge Monday to postpone the June 8 sentencing of a man who pleaded guilty to conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Kaleb Franks is expected to testify again at the second trial of Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr., the government said.

No trial date has been set, though the court filing is a signal that prosecutors aren't giving up. A jury on April 8 couldn't reach a unanimous verdict for Fox and Croft but acquitted Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta.

Franks' "substantial assistance" could earn him a shorter sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said.

"Postponing his sentencing until after the retrial would allow the court to consider the totality of his assistance in one proceeding," rather than bring him back for another hearing, Kessler told U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker.

Franks and Ty Garbin testified for the government, admitting their roles in a scheme to kidnap Whitmer from her second home in northern Michigan in 2020. Franks said he was depressed and had hoped to die in a shootout with police.

Defense lawyers for the others, however, said any plot was driven by undercover agents and FBI informants.

Garbin in 2021 was sentenced to less than seven years in prison.