The 'ringleader' of the plan to kidnap the Michigan governor receives a sentence of almost 20 years in prison

A Delaware trucker described as a co-leader of the conspiracy to kidnap the Michigan governor was sentenced Wednesday to more than 19 years in prison, a day after one of his accomplices received 16 years behind bars.

The Prosecutor's Office had requested life imprisonment for

, 47, the fourth and last accused to know his fate.

Judge Robert J. Jonker described him as

behind the plot and called him a "very convincing communicator" to people open to his views.

Croft and Adam Fox were convicted in August of conspiracy charges in Grand Rapids.

Croft was also found guilty of possession of an unregistered explosive.

Delaware trucker Barry Croft Jr. Delaware Department of Justice via AP, File

The men were accused of hatching a staggering plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer from her vacation home just before the 2020 presidential election. The conspirators were furious at the harsh COVID-19 restrictions that Whitmer and other state officials put in place during the first months of the pandemic, as well as because of perceived threats to gun ownership.

[The plan to kidnap the Michigan governor was intended to prevent Joe Biden from winning the presidency]

Whitmer was not physically harmed.

The FBI secretly infiltrated the group and made 14 arrests.

Assistant US Attorney Nils Kessler called Croft the "spiritual leader" of the cabal, likening his role to

"Essentially he was putting himself in the role of a prophet ... there are people who believe in this type of rhetoric, and he used it," Kessler told the judge.

Croft regularly wore a cocked hat common during the American Revolution and had tattoos on his arms symbolizing resistance — “Expect Us” — as he traveled to Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan to meet with like-minded extremists.

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A different jury in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was unable to reach a verdict on the couple in the first trial, held last spring, but acquitted two other men.

[Trump was the “main cause” of the assault on the Capitol, concludes a report published by the committee that investigated the attack]

The kidnapping was to be the start of a "reign of terror," Kessler stated in court documents.

Croft's plan called for riots, "burning" government officials in their sleep, and sparking violence across the country.

One key piece of evidence: Croft, Fox and others traveled to see Whitmer's vacation home in northern Michigan, with undercover agents and insider cabal informants.

At one point, Croft told his allies: “I don't like getting killed either.

But you don't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, you know what I mean?

Croft's lawyer tried to soften his client's role.

In a court filing, Joshua Blanchard said the Bear, Delaware, man actually had no authority over others.

“Simply to the extent that the jury determined that he was a participant, as they necessarily did, he was less so than others,” Blanchard insisted.

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Two men who have pleaded guilty and testified against Fox and Croft have been granted significant exemptions: Ty Garbin is now free after serving a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence, while Kaleb Franks received a four-year sentence.

In state court, three men recently received long sentences for assisting Fox in the early summer of 2020. Five others are awaiting trial in County Antrim, where Whitmer's holiday home is located.