GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The attorney for Barry Croft Jr., a key figure in the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretch Whitmer, said he wasn’t capable of leading a group of anti-government extremists in such a bold conspiracy.

Adam Fox wasn’t either, he said.

Yet, Croft, 49, of Bear, Delaware, and Fox, 42, of Wyoming, Michigan, are housed in United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) Florence. It’s a “supermax” federal prison near Florence, Colorado, where notorious terrorists, killers and drug lords spend most of their days locked in solitary confinement, the Independent reports.

Attorney Josh Blanchard, who represented Croft in two federal trials – one ended with a hung jury – said FBI special agents felt pressured to build a case against multiple Michigan men and used a raft of informants who often outnumbered government targets at meetings and training events.

Related: Defense for alleged leader says FBI informants pushed plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer

“Barry and Adam got high and ran their mouths,” Blanchard told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press, on Wednesday, May 28.

Now, President Donald Trump said he is looking into their cases for potential pardons. A federal appeals panel last month rejected their appeals, so barring pardons, Croft has to complete 19 years, seven months in prison and Fox 16 years in prison.

They were convicted of conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.

“I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention,” Trump told reporters at the White House, NBC News reported.

“I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job.”

Shortly after the plot was revealed in October 2020, Whitmer cautioned leaders – including Trump – that words matter.

“Just last week, the president of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two Michigan militia groups,” Whitmer said at the time.

In all, 14 men were charged in state or federal courts. Five of them were found not guilty.

Related: ‘50% is a disgrace.’ Attorneys critique Whitmer kidnap plot trial conviction rate

Blanchard, the attorney for Croft, said FBI special agents were under a “ton of pressure” to crack a high-profile case, and used informants who pushed their plans to set up the targets.

Blanchard thinks that a visit by the FBI early on could have convinced either of the two to back off the rhetoric, as well as any planning. He said there were “real irregularities in this case … .”

Fox’s attorney, Christopher Gibbons, wrote in court documents: “Adam Fox contends that four government informants … were originators of the criminal design in this case, to the extent that a ‘design’ ever existed.”

Trump pardoned nearly 1,500 defendants in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol shortly after he began his second term in office. Many others have followed, CNN reports.

Related: Leaders of Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot lose appeals

The government says Croft and Fox did intend to kidnap Whitmer and even conducted night reconnaissance missions to her lake house in Northern Michigan.

Appellate judges wrote: “The record before us is replete with evidence that Fox and Croft agreed to kidnap Governor Whitmer from her lakeside home provided the right opportunity presented itself.

“From their observations during reconnaissance, Fox hatched what he called the ‘perfect’ plan, which involved launching a boat or two, leaving a trailer in the water, disabling the governor’s security detail to take her into their custody, taking her out into Lake Michigan and dropping the boat’s motor, returning in the second boat to the waiting trailer, and escaping.”

Croft had said online in April 2020 that “executing governors would lead to a second American Revolution, and that ‘all it’s going to take is 1 state, to burn out and hang a (governor) and those dominoes will start falling.‘”

The appeals panel said Croft and Fox agreed to kidnap Whitmer.

“Based on the evidence presented at trial, the jury saw and heard a host of video and audio recordings of Defendants promising violence, planning and participating in trainings, bringing their own weapons and material, and plotting the abduction without reluctance.”