ATLANTA — The father and son convicted of Ahmaud Arbery’s murder agreed to plead guilty Monday to a federal hate crimes charge that would have avoided a second trial in the Black man’s slaying.
But U.S. District Judge Judge Lisa Godbey Wood rejected a plea agreement that would have seen Travis and Greg McMichael sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after several of Arbery’s family members argued against the deal.
Wood made her decision after Travis McMichael entered a guilty plea. McMichael’s lawyer, Amy Lee Copeland, then got Wood’s permission to have two days to decide whether to continue with the guilty plea or go to trial, set for Monday.