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Fox Et Al. Ss Ind Final
Fox Et Al. Ss Ind Final
Plaintiff,
COUNT 1
(Kidnapping Conspiracy)
From at least on or about June 6, 2020, through and including October 7, 2020, in the
and others known and unknown, willfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated,
and agreed with each other to violate Title 18, United States Code, Section 1201(a).
The object of the conspiracy was to unlawfully seize, confine, kidnap, abduct and carry
away, and hold for ransom and reward, or otherwise, the Governor of the State of Michigan (“the
Governor”).
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In order to effectuate the object of the conspiracy, the defendants used means, facilities,
social-media platforms and encrypted messaging services, and global positioning satellite
(“GPS”) navigation. In addition, the defendants traveled in interstate commerce to plan and train
for the kidnapping, practice building and detonating improvised explosive devices, and conduct
Defendants ADAM DEAN FOX and BARRY GORDON CROFT, JR. affiliated
themselves with the “Three Percenter” movement (sometimes rendered III%), which espouses
anti-government views. While many self-styled “militia” groups incorporate “III%” in their
names, the term is more indicative of a common set of beliefs and attitudes than of membership
defendants shared an overlapping set of views and objectives, and worked cooperatively on the
The defendants engaged in domestic terrorism, as defined at Title 18, United States Code,
Section 2331(5). That is, they engaged in activities within the territorial jurisdiction of the United
States, that involved acts dangerous to human life that were a violation of the criminal laws of
the United States or of any State; and which were intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian
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OVERT ACTS
In furtherance of the conspiracy and to effectuate its illegal object, the following overt
acts, among others, were committed in the Western District of Michigan and elsewhere:
1. On or about June 6, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX and BARRY GORDON CROFT,
JR. met in Dublin, Ohio, to discuss anti-government actions, including the kidnapping of state
2. On or about June 18, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX met Ty Gerard Garbin, a leader
of the Wolverine Watchmen, at a rally outside the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan. ADAM
DEAN FOX invited Ty Gerard Garbin and other Wolverine Watchmen members to meet him in
Grand Rapids, Michigan, with the intent to recruit them into the conspiracy to kidnap the
Governor.
3. On or about June 20, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX met Ty Gerard Garbin and other
Wolverine Watchmen members in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and proposed working together
4. On or about July 10-12, 2020, BARRY GORDON CROFT, JR. traveled from
Delaware to Wisconsin to attend a “field training exercise” with Wolverine Watchmen members
CASERTA, and Ty Gerard Garbin, where the group practiced combat tactics, including
assaulting motor vehicles using semiautomatic assault rifles and live ammunition.
5. On or about July 11, 2020, at the “field training exercise,” BARRY GORDON
CROFT, JR., DANIEL JOSEPH HARRIS, and Ty Gerard Garbin attempted to detonate two
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about August 9, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX proposed kidnapping the Governor to KALEB
HARRIS, BRANDON MICHAEL-RAY CASERTA, and Ty Gerard Garbin met in Lake Orion,
Michigan, where they examined each other’s identification documents in an attempt to verify
that no members of the group were undercover law enforcement agents or informants.
encrypted messaging group for the conspirators, including KALEB JAMES FRANKS, DANIEL
service he said would enable them to instantly delete their messages in case of federal law
enforcement contact.
surveillance of the Governor’s vacation home and drew a map on which he noted approximate
suggested taking down a highway bridge near the Governor’s vacation home would hinder a law
enforcement response, and offered to paint his boat black for a future nighttime surveillance trip.
11. Over the weekend of September 12-13, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX, BARRY
GORDON CROFT, JR., KALEB JAMES FRANKS, DANIEL JOSEPH HARRIS, BRANDON
Gerard Garbin’s property near Luther, Michigan. At the training exercise, they practiced
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assaulting a building in teams, and discussed tactics for fighting the Governor’s security detail
12. From the night of September 12, 2020, into the early morning of September 13,
2020, ADAM DEAN FOX, BARRY GORDON CROFT, JR., KALEB JAMES FRANKS, and
Ty Gerard Garbin conducted a nighttime surveillance of the Governor’s vacation home and a
nearby public boat ramp, using two-way radios and a night-vision scope.
13. On the way to the nighttime surveillance of the vacation home on or about
September 12, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX and BARRY GORDON CROFT, JR. stopped to
inspect the underside of a highway bridge near the vacation home for a place to mount an
explosive charge.
14. During the field training exercise near Luther, Michigan, on or about September
13, 2020, BARRY GORDON CROFT, JR. and DANIEL JOSEPH HARRIS detonated an
improvised explosive device containing shrapnel near human silhouette targets hung by the
15. On or about September 13, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX ordered $4,000 worth of
Garbin agreed to decline participation in a public rally at the State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan,
and concurred that it was important to keep a low profile “if we want to continue with our
plans.”
17. On or about October 2, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX purchased a Taser-type high-
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instructed his co-conspirators in an encrypted video message that if they encountered police
during a reconnaissance, they should give the officers one opportunity to leave, and kill them if
19. On or about October 7, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX, KALEB JAMES FRANKS,
DANIEL JOSEPH HARRIS, and Ty Gerard Garbin drove to Ypsilanti, Michigan, to meet the
undercover FBI agent posing as a co-conspirator, and use the “group cash” for a good-faith
18 U.S.C. § 1201(c)
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COUNT 2
(Conspiracy to Use a Weapon of Mass Destruction)
Paragraphs 1 through 19 of this Indictment are realleged and incorporated as though set
forth herein. From at least on or about May 1, 2020, through and including October 7, 2020, in
and others known and unknown, willfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated,
and agreed with each other to violate Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2332a(a)(2)(A) and
(C).
The object of the conspiracy was to use weapons of mass destruction without lawful
authority, namely, destructive devices as that term is defined in Title 18, United States Code,
Section 921, against persons or property within the United States. The defendants intended to use
the destructive devices to facilitate their plot to kidnap the Governor, by harming and hindering
the Governor’s security detail and any responding law enforcement officers. In order to
effectuate the object of the conspiracy, ADAM DEAN FOX, BARRY GORDON CROFT, JR.,
and DANIEL JOSEPH HARRIS traveled in interstate commerce and used a facility of interstate
OVERT ACTS
In furtherance of the conspiracy and to effectuate its illegal object, the following overt
acts, among others, were committed in the Western District of Michigan and elsewhere:
joining the Wolverine Watchmen, DANIEL JOSEPH HARRIS advised he was a Marine Corps
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infantry veteran who “can make things go boom if you give me what I need,” and could use
21. On or about May 18, 2020, DANIEL JOSEPH HARRIS offered to recruit an
22. On or about July 11-12, 2020, BARRY GORDON CROFT, JR. and DANIEL
JOSEPH HARRIS traveled to Wisconsin from Delaware and Michigan, respectively, where they
assembled and attempted to detonate two improvised explosive devices containing shrapnel.
23. On or about September 12, 2020, BARRY GORDON CROFT, JR. traveled from
Delaware to Michigan to test improvised explosive devices in furtherance of the defendants’ plot
24. On or about September 12, 2020, on their way to conduct a nighttime surveillance
of the Governor’s vacation home, ADAM DEAN FOX and BARRY GORDON CROFT, JR.
stopped to inspect the underside of a highway bridge for a place to mount an explosive charge.
25. On or about September 13, 2020, BARRY GORDON CROFT, JR. and DANIEL
26. On or about September 13, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX ordered $4,000 worth of
27. On or about October 7, 2020, ADAM DEAN FOX and DANIEL JOSEPH
HARRIS, and others drove to Ypsilanti, Michigan, to make a good-faith payment towards
explosives.
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COUNT 3
(Possession of an Unregistered Destructive Device)
Paragraphs 1 through 27 of this Indictment are realleged and incorporated as though set
forth herein. On or about September 13, 2020, in Lake County, in the Southern Division of the
knowingly possessed a firearm, that is, a destructive device, as defined at Title 26, United States
Code, Sections 5845(a)(8) and (f)(1)(A), which was not registered to them in the National
26 U.S.C. § 5861(d)
26 U.S.C. § 5841
26 U.S.C. § 5871
18 U.S.C. § 2
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COUNT 4
(Possession of an Unregistered Short-Barreled Rifle)
Paragraphs 1 through 27 of this Indictment are realleged and incorporated as though set
forth herein. Between or about July 10, 2020 and on or about September 13, 2020, in the
knowingly possessed a firearm, that is, an Anderson Manufacturing, Model AM-15, .223/5.56
mm caliber semiautomatic assault rifle, serial number 16012390, with a barrel of less than 16
inches in length, which was not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and
26 U.S.C. § 5861(d)
26 U.S.C. § 5845(a)(3)
26 U.S.C. § 5871
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FORFEITURE ALLEGATION
(Count 1 – Kidnapping Conspiracy)
The allegations contained in Count 1 of this Superseding Indictment are hereby realleged
and incorporated by reference for the purpose of alleging forfeitures pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
Upon conviction of the offense in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1201(c) set forth in Count 1 of
shall forfeit to the United States of America, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(a)(1)(C), 924(d) and
28 U.S.C. § 2461(c), any property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from
proceeds traceable to the offense and any firearm or ammunition involved in or used in the
offense. The property to be forfeited includes, but is not limited to, property identified in a Bill
If any of the property described above, as a result of any act or omission of the
defendants:
ii. has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party;
without difficulty;
the United States of America shall be entitled to forfeiture of substitute property pursuant to 21
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18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C)
18 U.S.C. § 924(d)
21 U.S.C. § 853(p)
28 U.S.C. § 2461(c)
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FORFEITURE ALLEGATION
(Count 2 – Conspiracy to Use a Weapon of Mass Destruction)
The allegations contained in Count 2 of this Superseding Indictment are hereby realleged
and incorporated by reference for the purpose of alleging forfeitures pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
Upon conviction of the offense in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2332a(a) set forth in Count 2
shall forfeit to the United States of America pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(G)(i) – (iii) and 28
U.S.C. § 2461(c), all assets, foreign or domestic (i) of any individual, entity, or organization
engaged in planning or perpetrating any Federal crime of terrorism against the United States,
citizens or residents of the United States, or their property, and all assets, foreign or domestic,
affording any person a source of influence over any such entity or organization; (ii) acquired or
maintained by any person with the intent and for the purpose of supporting, planning,
conducting, or concealing any Federal crime of terrorism against the United States, citizens or
residents of the United States, or their property; and (iii) derived from, involved in, or used or
intended to be used to commit any Federal crime of terrorism against the United States, citizens
or residents of the United States, or their property. The property to be forfeited includes, but is
not limited to, property identified in a Bill of Particulars filed on the record in this matter.
If any of the property described above, as a result of any act or omission of the defendant:
ii. has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party;
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without difficulty;
the United States of America shall be entitled to forfeiture of substitute property pursuant to 21
18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(G)
21 U.S.C. § 853(p)
28 U.S.C. § 2461(c)
18 U.S.C. § 2332a(a)
18 U.S.C. § 2332b(g)(5)
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FORFEITURE ALLEGATION
(Count 3 – Possession of an Unregistered Destructive Device; Count 4 – Possession of an
Unregistered Short-Barreled Rifle)
The allegations contained in Counts 3 and 4 of this Superseding Indictment are hereby re-
alleged and incorporated by reference for the purpose of alleging forfeitures pursuant to 26
of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d) set forth in Counts 3 and 4 of this Superseding Indictment, the
defendants,
shall forfeit to the United States any firearm involved in the commission of the offense including,
1. FIREARM(s): any destructive device, as defined at Title 26, United States Code,
Sections 5845(a)(8) and (f)(1)(A), which was not registered to the defendants in the National
Firearms Registration and Transfer Record as required by law (Count 3); and an Anderson
Manufacturing, Model AM-15, .223/5.56mm caliber semiautomatic assault rifle, serial number
16012390, with a barrel of less than 16 inches in length, as defined at Title 26, United States
Code, Section 5845(a)(3), which was not registered to defendant DANIEL JOSEPH HARRIS in
the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record as required by law (Count 4).
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e. has been commingled with other property which cannot be divided without
difficulty,
the United States of America shall be entitled to forfeiture of substitute property pursuant to 21
26 U.S.C. § 5872(a)
28 U.S.C. § 2461(c)
21 U.S.C. § 853(p)
26 U.S.C. § 5861(d)
A TRUE BILL
___________________________________
NILS R. KESSLER
Assistant United States Attorney
___________________________________
AUSTIN J. HAKES
Assistant United States Attorney
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