UPDATE: The plea deal the McMichaels reached with the Department of Justice was rejected by a judge, the NYTimes reports. Ahmaud Arbery’s family strongly voiced their discontent with the deal to allow the killers to spend time in federal prison and not state prison. The Arbery family attorney Lee Merritt called it a “back room deal represents a betrayal to the Arbery family who is devastated.”
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In the upcoming federal trial of the convicted killers of Ahmaud Arbery, the prosecutors in the case against Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael have reached a plea deal on federal hate crimes charges, CNN reports.
Fellow convicted killer William “Roddie” Bryan was not mentioned in the agreement news.
According to court documents presented late Sunday, the U.S. attorneys submitted a notice of two plea agreements for Gregory and his son Travis to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District in Georgia.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, who objected to a previous deal that the attorneys wanted to offer, stated through her lawyer, Lee Merritt, that she “will oppose this deal before the Court.”
Merritt also stated that “this back room deal represents a betrayal to the Arbery family who is devastated.”
Earlier this month, Gregory McMichael, 64, was found guilty on eight of nine charges, and received life without parole plus 20 years in prison for his role. His son, Travis McMichael, 34, who shot and killed Arbery and was found guilty on all counts received life in prison plus 20 years as well.
Judge Walmsley acknowledged William Bryan Jr., who recorded the shooting and was found guilty on all but three charges, questioned what happened at the scene, but also acknowledged he was convicted of the crime. Bryan was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.
Bryan, who is in his 50s, will not be eligible for parole until he is in his 80s.
The three men were found guilty
of murder and aggravated assault charges in November and showed little expression as they were sentenced.“A copy of the plea agreement has been provided to the Court for its consideration,” it states in the notices of plea agreements that were filed Sunday in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Georgia.
Cooper-Jones’ attorney responded to the action via his Twitter account after hearing news of the papers filed.