Kaleb Franks biography: 13 things about Waterford, Michigan man

Kaleb James Franks is a white man from Waterford, Michigan, United States. He was involved in the thwarted plot to kidnap 49th Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020.

That year, Franks and more than 10 other militia group members spent months to plot the kidnapping. Prior to this, he did not have any known criminal history.

Franks loves motorbikes and working out. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. From 2010 to 2011, he attended Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan.
2. From 2014 to 2018, he attended Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor Charter Township, Michigan where he studied clinical psychology.
3. From July 2014 to July 2016, he was a manager at Guidos Pizza in Brighton.
4. From August 2016 to 2020, he worked at Meridian Health Services in Waterford. As a peer recovery coach with the treatment center, he was featured in Metro Parent, which quoted him as saying that recovery for substance abuse is “about progress and not perfection.”
5. In 2018, he bought a residence along Holbrook Avenue in Waterford.
6. On June 28, 2020, he attended a tactical training exercise at the residence of Wolverine Watchmen founders Pete Musico and Joseph Morrison at 8008 Dunn Road in Munith, Michigan. The training was also attended by two confidential human resources and conspirators Ty Garbin, Brandon Caserta, Adam Fox and Fox’s girlfriend.
7. On July 7, 2020, he attended a meeting at the residence of another militia group member, which was attended by two confidential human resources. During the meeting, he said he was “not cool with offensive kidnapping” and he was just there for training. From July 10-12, 2020, he participated in firearms training and other combat drills with four other militia members in Cambria, Wisconsin, USA. He brought and fired a rifle with a silencer at the exercise.
8. On August 9, 2020, he and four other militia members participated in a tactical training in Munith. When asked about kidnapping Whitmer, he said, “Okay, sounds good. I’m in for anything as long as it’s well planned.”
9. On August 23, 2020, he, his co-conspirators and one confidential human resource met in Lake Orion, Michigan at the residence of Daniel Harris, also a member of the group. All attendees were required to bring personal documents to confirm their identities. They discussed concerns about being infiltrated by law enforcement. He informed the group about the helmet and nightvision goggles he had recently bought for almost $4,000.
10. On September 12, 2020, he was in Luther, Michigan at a property owned by Garbin and participated in field training exercises. He was one of the selected members who drove from Luther to Whitmer’s vacation home near Elk Rapids, Antrim County, Michigan to conduct a nighttime surveillance. During the ride back to Luther, he told his co-conspirators that they are “doing all the reconnaissance work so it should go smooth.” Back in Luther, he told the group, “Kidnapping, arson, death. I don’t care.”
11. On October 8, 2020, he, Garbin, Caserta, Harris and Fox were charged in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was booked into the Kent County Jail in Grand Rapids.
12. On February 9, 2022, he pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges in the alleged plot to kidnap Whitmer in 2020 and said neither he nor his six co-defendants were set up by the government.
13. He was 27 years old when he pleaded guilty on February 9, 2022 to plotting to kidnap Whitmer. He agreed to help prosecutors at the trial on March 8, 2022. 

(This is a developing story. Updates will be added as soon as they are available.)