Federal judge rejects plea deal for Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers

A federal judge has rejected a plea deal that would have averted a hate crimes trial for two of the men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old Black man who was chased by three white men and fatally shot in a Georgia neighborhood while he was jogging two years ago.

US District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood issued her decision on the proposed deal for Travis McMichael, 36, on Monday, after Arbery's family reacted furiously to the agreements reached with McMichael and his father, Greg McMichael. Though her decision concerned the younger McMichael, his father had been offered the same deal.

The proposed agreements concern a federal hate crimes trial due to start next month, and were filed late Sunday in US district court in southern Georgia. There was no mention of a deal with the McMichaels' co-defendant, William "Roddie" Bryan. All three men were sentenced to life in prison on 7 January after they were found guilty of murder following a trial last fall.

The hate crime charges accuse the McMichaels and Bryan of violating Arbery's civil rights by chasing him through a neighborhood in coastal Georgia in February 2020. The McMichaels armed themselves and pursued Arbery in one pickup truck while Bryan joined the chase in another and recorded video of Travis McMichael blasting Arbery with a shotgun.

As part of the deal, Travis McMichael had agreed to plead guilty, admitting for the first time that he was motivated by race when he attacked Arbery. The agreement would have allowed McMichael to spend 30 years in federal prison, rather than in state prison, where conditions are tougher.

After rejecting the agreement, the judge gave Travis McMichael until Friday to decide whether to move ahead with a guilty plea. She acknowledged Greg McMichael had been offered the same deal and also gave him until Friday to make a decision.

Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery, had told reporters that he was "mad as hell" over the proposals.