A federal judge on Monday rejected the plea deal between prosecutors and Travis McMichael on hate-crimes charges for the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, CNN reports. Arbery was chased, shot at close range and murdered in 2020 while going for a run through a residential neighborhood in Georgia.
As part of the now defunct deal, McMichael agreed to plead guilty to one hate crime charge in exchange for a recommendation that he serve 30 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Lisa G. Wood rejected the plea and gave McMichael until Friday to decide about formally entering a guilty plea. Wood pointed out that Travis’ father Gregory McMichael, who was offered the same plea deal, would also have until Friday to decide whether he would plead guilty.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, criticized the plea deals for allowing the men to spend 30 years in federal prison versus facing…
