Federal hate crimes sentencing for men convicted in Ahmaud Arbery’s death set for August

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The trio of men convicted of federal hate crimes in the death of Ahmaud Arbery will be sentenced in August.

Father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan” were convicted of the February 2020 murder of Ahmaud Arbery in a state trial last November. They were each sentenced to

The trio then faced a federal trial that alleged that they committed a hate crime. Prosecutors say Arbery being a Black man played a significant role in leading to his death. They were each found guilty of interference with rights and attempted kidnapping.

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The day before the trial was set to begin, federal prosecutors offered plea deals to Travis and Gregory McMichael that would have allowed them to spend the first 30 years of their sentences in a federal prison. The men accepted the terms, but the judge rejected the plea deals, and the men pleaded not guilty instead.

Despite receiving guilty verdicts, Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, was not happy with federal prosecutors for trying to settle the case with pleas, despite her asking them not to.

“I told the DOJ, that yes, they were prosecutors but one thing they didn’t have, they didn’t have a son that was lying in a cold grave. And they still ignored my cry,” Cooper Jones said.

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Travis McMichael will be sentenced on August 1 at 10 a.m.

Bryan is scheduled for a sentencing hearing at 1 p.m. on August 1.

Gregory McMichael will be the last to be sentenced at 10 a.m. on August 8.

All three hearings will take place at the federal courthouse in Brunswick.

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