‘They chose to target my son because they didn’t want him in their community. 
‘They chose to treat him differently. 
‘And when they couldn’t sufficiently scare him or intimidate him, they killed him’ – Wanda Cooper-Jones 

US District Judge Lisa G. Wood Monday rejected a plea deal for Travis and Gregory McMichael on federal hate crimes after Travis admitted that he chased Ahmaud Arbery because he was black

Making the admission for the first time, Monday, the younger McMichael changed his plea to guilty at a hearing in the U.S. District Court in Brunswick, GA

With the deal, the court would have imposed a 30-year sentence on Travis McMichael and his father Gregory McMichael, to run concurrent with the life sentences they received on Friday after their murder convictions

The deal would give the men their preference of serving time in a ‘cushier’ federal prison, instead of a state penitentiary  

The McMichaels were convicted in November, alongside William ‘Roddie’ Bryan in Arbery’s murder and were set to serve life without parole

The trio, however, were still scheduled to stand trial for federal hate crime charges on February 7

The details of the plea agreement were not specified when filed on Sunday, but were to be reviewed and approved by a judge

The family’s attorney Lee Merritt said: ‘Federal prison is a country club when compared to state prison… these men hurriedly entered this plea deal that would allow them to transfer out of custody from GA prison’

Judge Wood in a ruling on Monday afternoon, rejected the terms of the deal at the request of Arbery’s parents

Marcus Arbery and Wanda Cooper-Jones revealed some of the details of the agreement, which they say is a betrayal of their trust by DOJ

U.S. District Judge Lisa G. Wood on Monday rejected a plea deal for Ahmaud Arbery’s killers on federal hate crime charges, with Travis McMichael admitting for the first time that he chased Ahmaud Arbery down because he was black before fatally shooting him.  
On Monday, Travis McMichael, 36, and his 66-year-old father Gregory McMichael changed their plea to guilty at a hearing in the U.S. District Court in Brunswick, Georgia, after reaching a deal with federal prosecutors on Sunday night. 
Arbery’s family was furious at the Department of Justice for giving two of his killers the plea deal that would have sent them to a relatively cushy federal prison to serve out their life sentences instead of the state penitentiary.  

Travis McMichael pled guilty to using a gun in his attempt to apprehend Arbery because of his ‘race and color,’ resulting in Arbery’s death.
But in a ruling on Monday afternoon, the judge rejected the terms of the deal after Arbery’s mother and other family members begged her to. 

Facing a total of 27 counts the defendants pled guilty or were acquitted on the following charges:

COUNT 1 – MALICE MURDER
Causing a person’s death with deliberate intention without provocation and ‘where all the circumstances in the killing show an abandoned and malignant heart’. 
Travis McMichael – Guilty
Gregory McMichael – Not guilty
William ‘Roddie’ Bryan – Not guilty  
COUNTS 2, 3, 4 AND 5 – FELONY MURDER 
Death caused in the course of committing another felony whether or not the killing was intentional or unprovoked. 
Travis McMichael – Guilty on all counts
Gregory McMichael – Guilty on all counts
William ‘Roddie’ Bryan – Guilty on three counts, not guilty on one counts
COUNT 6 and 7 – AGGRAVATED ASSAULT 
Assault using a deadly weapon. Count six refers to the shotgun used, count 7 refers to the two pickup trucks, driven by Gregory McMichael and William ‘Roddie’ Bryan to box Arbery in.
Travis McMichael – Guilty 
Gregory McMichael –  Not guilty on count 6; Guilty on count 7
William ‘Roddie’ Bryan – Not guilty on count 6; Guilty on count 7 
COUNT 8 –  FALSE IMPRISONMENT  
Arrest, confine, or detain another person without legal authority. 
Travis McMichael – Guilty 
Gregory McMichael –  Guilty
William ‘Roddie’ Bryan – Guilty
COUNT 9 – CRIMINAL INTENT TO COMMIT A FELONY
Performing ‘any act which constitutes a substantial step’ toward the intentional commission of a crime 
Travis McMichael – Guilty 
Gregory McMichael –  Guilty 
William ‘Roddie’ Bryan – Guilty 

The McMichaels were both sentenced to life without parole for murdering Arbery, while their neighbor William Roddie Bryan, 52, – who filmed the murder – was also sentenced to life but will be eligible for parole in 15 years. 
Under the agreements of the deal, the court would have imposed a 30-year sentence on Travis McMichael and his father Gregory McMichael, and it would run concurrent with the life sentences they are already serving as a result of their murder convictions. 

‘Having considered all that was said today, and looking at the law that governs these agreements, it is my decision to reject the plea agreement in this case,’ Judge Wood said on Monday.
‘I am not comfortable with accepting the terms of the plea agreement,’ she added. 

Before the revised ruling, Arbery’s family gave vent to their dismay, in an emotional plea to the court, Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper Jones said: ‘I’m asking on behalf of his family, on the behalf of his memory, and on behalf of fairness that you do not accept this plea.’ 
Adding that the deal would give the men their preference of serving time in a federal prison. 
‘I don’t need them to say that they were motivated by hate. That does me no good. That does my family no good. I’ve heard enough from Travis McMichael.’
She added that McMichaels’ testimony at the murder trial ‘followed me through the Christmas holiday’. ‘For once, listen to me. It is not right. It is not just. It is wrong. Please listen to me. The state of Georgia already gave these men exactly what they deserve.’
In turn the victim’s father, Marcus Arbery, told the court: ‘They killed my son because he’s a black man.’

Addressing the court on Monday, Assistant US Attorney Tara M. Lyons said Travis McMichael’s racial motivations were pre-established due to his license plate which had an image of an old Georgia flag with a Confederate symbol on it. 
‘He had made assumptions about Ahmaud Arbery that he would not have made, if Ahmaud Arbery had been white.’
She added that McMichael also ‘associated black skin with criminality.’
‘While race and color need not be the sole cause of a defendant’s actions [under the statute], they must be a ‘but-for’ cause,’ Lyons  said. 

The McMichaels were convicted in November, along with William ‘Roddie’ Bryan, in Arbery’s murder and were sentenced to serve life without parole, though Bryan was allowed to seek parole. 
The trio, however, were still scheduled to stand trial for federal hate crime charges on February 7.
The details of the plea agreement were not specified when filed on Sunday. A plea does not appear to have been reached with Bryan.
However, Marcus Arbery and Wanda Cooper-Jones, in a statement put out by their attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt early Monday morning, have revealed some of the details of the agreement, which they say is a betrayal of their trust. 
The convicted men legal observers noted, likely tried to get into federal prison because they will be more closely protected there than in state prison. In a series of tweets Monday, the family’s attorney Lee Merritt said: ‘Federal prison is a country club when compared to state prison. Federal prisons are less populated, better funded and generally more accommodating than state prisons. These men hurriedly entered this plea deal that would allow them to transfer out of custody from GA prison.’
In a counter, an attorney representing the McMichaels told The Atlanta Journal Constitution that it was unfair to suggest federal prison is more comfortable.
‘Anybody who tries to convince the public that one is better than the other or one is cushier than the other has no idea what it’s like to serve time in prison,’ he said.  
After hearing news of the deal, Arbery’s parents immediately labelled it a betrayal, which they said was an ‘unauthorized backroom deal’ that ‘is a huge accommodation to the men who hunted down and murdered’ their son. 

Lee Merritt, an attorney for the Arbery family, said the prison the men would now go to under the deal is like a ‘country club’ compared with state prison.
‘Both [Cooper-Jones] and [Arbery] are vehemently against this deal and expressed this directly on calls with DOJ officials today,’ the statement reads. 
They proposed deal would allow the McMichaels to serve 30 years in a ‘preferred federal prison’ rather than a state penitentiary.  
The DOJ has gone behind my back to offer the men who murdered my son a deal to make their time in prison easier for them to serve,’ she said earlier on Monday.  
‘I have made it clear at every possible moment that I do not agree to offer these men a plea deal of any kind. I have been completely betrayed by the DOJ lawyers.’  

Travis and Gregory McMichael were both sentenced to life without parole, while their neighbor William Roddie Bryan, 52, – who filmed the excruciating murder scene while helping to trap the outnumbered and unarmed jogger- will be eligible for parole. 
Judge Timothy R. Walmsley did not specify how long he would have to spend in prison, but prosecutors asked that he spend at least 15 years behind bars. However, typically, the minimum in Georgia is 30 years. 

In handing down his sentence, Walmsley called the murder ‘chilling’ and ‘disturbing’. He talked about the ‘terror’ Arbery must have felt for the five minutes the men chased him in their pick-up trucks with a shotgun and revolver. 
‘As we all now know based on the verdict that was handed down in this courtroom, Ahmaud Arbery was murdered. It’s a tragedy. It’s a tragedy on many, many levels.
‘On February 23, 2020…a young man with dreams was gunned down in this community. As we understand it, he went for a run and he ended up running for his life.’ 
To emphasize how long the five-minute chase must have felt for Arbery, the judge sat silently for a minute in the courtroom. ‘That one minute represents a fraction of the time that Ahmaud Arbery was running in Satilla Shores. The chase that occurred, occurred over a five minute period. 
”When I thought about this, I kept coming back to the terror that must have been in the mind of the young man running through Satilla Shores,’ he said. 
‘He was hunted down and shot and he was killed because individuals took the law into their own hands.’ 

Before handing the three men convicted in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery life sentences, Judge Timothy Walmsley recited some of the comments made by the McMichael father and son after the shooting, to prove that it was a ‘callous’ execution.
They never showed any remorse, the judge observed: ‘Remorse is something that’s felt and demonstrated.
‘In this case, getting back to the video, after Ahmaud Arbery fell, the McMichael’s turned their backs. They walked away. This was a killing. It was callous and it occurred because confrontation was being sought. 

‘The most violent crime in Satilla Shores was the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. 
‘The record speaks for itself. Greg McMichael tried to establish a narrative. He said he was ‘trapped like a rat.’
He said, ‘stop or I’ll blow your f*****g head off.’ 
‘He told Travis ‘you have no choice’.
He also said, ‘If I could have gotten a shot at the guy, I would have shot him.” 
Unlike the father and son, Bryan appeared to show some remorse in the days and weeks after the killing, Judge Walmsley said. 

However all three acted as vigilantes, chasing down Arbery and then murdering him because they were ‘seeking confrontation.’  
‘Taking the law into your own hands is a dangerous endeavor. Ultimately with regard to the murder of Ahmaud Arbery it holds us all accountable. At a minimum his death should force us to consider expanding our definition of what a neighbor may be and how we treat them. 
‘I believe that assuming the worst in others, we show our worst character. Assuming the best in others is always the best course of action. Maybe those are the grand lessons of this case,’ the judge said.

There were celebrations outside the court as the sentences were read aloud.  He then recited some of the comments made by the McMichaels after the shooting to prove that it was a ‘callous’ execution, and said they never showed any remorse. 
‘Remorse is something that’s felt and demonstrated. In this case, getting back to the video, after Ahmaud Arbery fell, the McMichael’s turned their backs. They walked away. This was a killing. It was callous and it occurred because confrontation was being sought. 
‘The most violent crime in Satilla Shores was the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. 
‘The record speaks for itself. Greg McMichael tried to establish a narrative. He said he was ‘trapped like a rat.

Earlier, Arbery’s parents asked a judge to sentence his killers to life without parole on Friday at a courthouse in Georgia, saying they ‘lynched him in broad daylight’ and targeted him when he felt most ‘free and alive’.  
On February 23, 2020, the McMichaels and Bryan chased Arbery, a 26-year-old black man, through a street in Satilla Shores.
The men said they thought Arbery was a burglar. 
Travis McMichael pulled the trigger, with his father nearby.
Roddie Bryan filmed the entire incident on his phone. 
In November, they were all convicted of murder – which carries a mandatory life sentence – Prosecutors chose not to seek the death penalty.  

Gregory and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William Brian Jr were found a guilty of murder in state court on November 23 by a panel of 11 white jurors and one black juror.
In compiling that jury pool, 1,000 people in the mostly-white Glynn County were called.

Arbery’s father Marcus spoke first, telling the court: ‘The man who killed my son has sat in this courtroom every day next to his father. I’ll never get the chance of sitting next to my son ever again. Not at a dinner table, not at a holiday, not at a wedding. I pray that no one in this courtroom has to do what we had – bury their child.’ 
Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper Jones was next pleading with the court: ‘They were fully committed to their crimes – let them be fully committed for the consequences.’  
She then told the judge: ‘Your honor, I am standing here before you today as the mother of Ahmaud Arbery asking you to please give all three defendants who are responsible for the death of my son, the maximum punishment which I do believe is life without bars without the possible chance for parole.’ 

The men’s lawyers are asking that they be granted parole after 30 years. Prosecutors have asked the judge not to grant any of the men parole. 
The victim’s mother in her impact statement remembered her son Ahmaud as a ‘loving’ baby who ‘never seemed to tire of cuddles, hugs and kisses.’
Emphasizing the hate element in the case Cooper-Jones said ‘This wasn’t a case of mistaken identity or mistaken fact. They chose to target my son because they didn’t want him in their community they chose to treat him differently when they couldn’t sufficiently scare him or intimidate him, they killed him.’
She ended by asking for the maximum punishment: ‘They were fully committed to their crimes – let them be fully committed for the consequences.
‘I’m standing here before you asking you to please give all three defendants who are responsible for the death of my son, the maximum punishment in this court which I do believe is life without bars without the possible chance for parole’. 
His father Marcus Arbery recounted how his son loved to run more than anything because it made him feel ‘free’. 
‘Not only did they lynch my son in broad daylight but they killed him when he was doing what he loved more than anything – running. 
‘That’s when he felt most alive. Most free. And they took all of that from him.
‘When I close my eyes, I see his execution over and over. I’ll see that for the rest of my life.  
‘When I became a father my life became bigger than me, it became bigger than me about my family, protecting him, protecting my boy. I know in my head that there is nothing I could have done that day to have saved my son. 

Arbery, a 25-year-old avid jogger, was running through the mostly white residential neighborhood of Satilla Shores on the afternoon of Feb. 23 when the McMichaels decided to grab their guns, jump in a pickup truck and give chase.
The younger McMichael would later testify to the jury they had a hunch Arbery might be fleeing a crime.
Bryan joined the chase in his own pickup truck after it passed his driveway, and pulled out his cellphone to record Travis McMichael firing a shotgun at Arbery at close range. 
Arbery had nothing on him besides his running clothes and sneakers.
The video caused outrage when it emerged months later and it became clear that none of the men involved had yet been arrested after a local prosecutor concluded the killing was justified.

A Family’s Grief

Game Over For Killers

Defense attorneys then pled with the judge not to sentence the men to the harshest possible term. 
Gregory McMichael’s attorney, Laura Hogue, called him a ‘man of goodness’ and referred to the killing as a ‘five minute chase that ended in tragedy.’
‘Greg McMichael is a good man. He is not a perfect person but none of us are. 
‘The choices he made as a young man, all the way through to the rest of his life, to serve, not to acquire wealth, but to quietly go through the business of choosing career options to help other people. 
‘I say without hesitation he remains a man of goodness,’ she said. 
However for Wanda Cooper-jones, ‘The day has finally come that we will get justice. 
‘The day my family an I have prayed for… it has finally come,’ Cooper-Jones concluded.