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BRUNSWICK — Ahmaud Arbery The family will ask a judge to hand down the life sentences of three white men convicted of hunting down and killing a young black man who was jogging in a suburban Georgia community.
Serial sentencing hearings for Travis McMichael, 36, father Gregory McMichael, 66, and neighbor William "Lody" Bryan, 52, in U.S. District Court in Brunswick, Georgia. A meeting is scheduled for Monday.
All three were convicted in February of a hate crime that attacked and violated Arbery's civil rights because of his race and attempted kidnapping, and the March 2016 vigilante. concluded a high-profile trial investigating the issue of racist violence. America.
McMichaels was also convicted of federal firearms charges against which Bryan was not charged. The most serious hate crimes carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. The three men were convicted of murder and other crimes by a state court last year and were sentenced to life in prison. They appealed the state's conviction.
Ahmad Arbery's father, Marcus Arbery, said his family demands that he serve the maximum sentence in state prison on federal charges.
The McMichaels had previously offered to plead guilty in exchange for his 30-year sentence in federal prison. Federal prisons are considered safer and generally more comfortable.In recently filed court documents, Gregory McMichaels is seeking to serve his 20 years in federal prison.
"They didn't give my son a chance, so why should I give them a chance to live comfortably?" Marcus Arbery told Reuters.
Arbery was out for an afternoon jog at his Shores of Satira near Brunswick on February 23, 2020 when three defendants chased him and a young Mc Michael shot him.
McMichaels believes Arbery seemed suspicious and talks about a series of neighborhood break-ins.
According to trial testimony, there was no burglary, but rather the theft from an unlocked vehicle. Prosecutors presented testimony from 20 witnesses and other evidence that the three men had a long history of making racist slurs and statements.
It was not clear if a judge would deliver the verdict from the bench on Monday. (Reporting by Rich McKay, Brunswick, Georgia; Editing by Donna Bryson and Howard Goller)
