Kaleb Franks, one of the five defendants set to face trial next month for conspiring to kidnap Michigan’s governor, changed course and decided to plead guilty to the allegations in a Grand Rapids federal courtroom on Feb. 9.
“Did any law enforcement officers suggest committing any crimes?” Judge Green asked Franks.
“No, sir,” Franks replied. “Did the plot originate solely with you and the other defendants?” the judge asked again.
“Yes, sir,” Franks said.
Judge Green said he will file a report with U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker—the trial judge in the case—recommending that he accept Franks’ guilty plea. Franks will then have a sentencing hearing in about three months, Green said.
As per his plea agreement with the Department of Justice, Franks is now set to testify against his co-defendants—Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta—at their March 8 trial.
Franks’ plea agreement provides a preview as to what he will presumably tell the jury: “The defendant was not entrapped or induced to commit any crimes by these individuals.
“The defendant also knows Fox, Croft, Harris and Caserta were not entrapped, based on personal observation and discussions. For instance, Fox proposed assaulting the Capitol the first time the defendant met him … The defendant also heard Harris and Caserta express similar anti-government sentiments during his private discussions with them, when no government informant was present,” the plea agreement says.
“During all their months of training together, the defendant never heard Fox, Croft, Harris, or Caserta say they were doing anything because [Confidential Human Source] CHS Dan, CHS Steve, or any other informant had advocated it.”
Franks’ change of plea follows numerous failed objections filed by his attorney, Scott Graham, related to their entrapment defense.
In separate orders a day later, Jonker also denied Franks’ motion to provide sovereign immunity to FBI informants and agents, and to introduce evidence about undercover informants present at the Capitol Hill riots.
On Feb. 1, Franks’ defense was further damaged when Judge Jonker granted the DOJ’s request for their own psychologist to evaluate him. Franks’ own psychologist had previously attested to his “presents extraordinary susceptibility to influence and suggestion” in support of his claim of entrapment, and the DOJ had sought to scrutinize that evaluation.
The final blow for Franks apparently came Feb. 2, when Judge Jonker sided with the DOJ in the dispute over whether FBI agents’ misconduct would be shown to the jury at trial.
Judge Jonker said an FBI agent assaulting his wife was irrelevant to the kidnapping case. He made a similar statement about the agent accused of perjury in another matter.
As for the FBI agent who operated a private intelligence business during the investigation, Judge Jonker said there was no conflict of interest in the arrangement.
Franks signed his plea deal four days later, according to court filings.
