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Ahmaud Arbery’s mother was devastated by the news that two of the three men convicted of killing her son have reached plea agreements with federal prosecutors. The proposed deal, if accepted would allow Gregory and Travis McMichael to serve their federal sentences concurrently with their state sentences. It also means both men will serve most of their prison time in a federal prison instead of a state prison. Court documents did not mention a similar agreement for William ‘Roddie’ Bryan, the other man convicted in the murder of Arbery.
Lee Merit, the Arbery family’s lawyer says the proposed ‘back room’ deal was signed by the McMicheals to keep them from serving their time in a Georgia state prison. He also called federal prison a “country club,” and said the news has devastated Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones.
“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,” said Jones in a statement posted by their lawyer. “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 completed betrayed by the DOJ Lawyers.”
Jury selection in the federal trial was supposed to begin on Feb. 7, but now a judge will review the plea deal agreement in federal court during a pre-trial hearing scheduled for Monday at 10 am.
Lee Merit took to his social media to update the world on how the family is handling the sad situation. He also said the Arbery family hopes to express their dissent in court in front of a judge.
On Nov. 24, Gregory and Travis McMichael, as well as William “Roddie” Bryan were convicted of felony murder and other charges for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Feb. 2020. The 25-year-old Arbery was jogging through the Brunswick, GA neighborhood when the McMichales attempted a citizen’s arrest. Travis McMichael shot and kill Arbery, claiming self-defense in court.
Jan 7, 2022, a judge handed down life in prison sentences for all three men convicted of murdering Arbery. The guilty verdicts mean the mostly white jury didn’t buy the defendants’ claim that they were attempting to make a citizen’s arrest of Arbery when Travis McMichael shot him twice at close range with a shotgun.
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Judge Sentences Ahmaud Arbery’s Murderers To Life In Prison
Source: NewsOne
