Co-leader in Whitmer kidnapping plot sentenced to more than 19 years in prison

Barry Croft Jr., 47, one of the ringleaders in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison by a U.S. District Court judge on Wednesday.

Why it matters: Croft's co-defendant, Adam Fox, 39, a second leader of the plot to violently attack and overthrow the state government in 2020, received a prison sentence of 16 years on Tuesday.

Both were convicted in August of conspiring to abduct and conspiring to obtain a weapon of mass destruction, and both faced possible life sentences over the convictions.

They had been members of a far-right militia group called the Three Percenters.

Between the lines: Croft was also previously convicted of knowingly possessing an unregistered destructive device, which the Department of Justice said was in the form of a commercial firework refashioned with shrapnel to serve as a hand grenade.