A plea deal between federal prosecutors and 35-year-old-Travis McMichael, the state convicted killer of Ahmaud Arbery, has been rejected by a U.S. District Court judge on Monday. 

Prosecutors filed papers on Sunday in the federal hate crime case, striking deals with Travis and Gregory McMichael, whose prison sentences would run concurrently. Gregory McMichael is the father of Travis McMichael. The third convicted murderer in the case, neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan, was not mentioned. No Plea agreement was announced for Bryan.

The plea deal would have allowed Gregory McMichael to serve a large part of his sentence in federal prison after the victim’s family vehemently objected to the plea bargain. 

Judge Lisa Godbey Wood’s decision to turn down Travis McMichael’s plea agreement with federal prosecutors came after Abery’s parents and two aunts gave emotional statements asking the judge to reject the deal and proceed with a federal trial next week.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones told the judge, “All they would have to do is stand up and say that they were motivated by hate and then this court will concede to their preferred conditions of confinement. I do not need to hear them say they were motivated by hate. That does me no good. It does my family no good.”

She added, “It is not fair to take away this victory that I prayed and I fought for. It is not right. It is not just. It is wrong. Please listen to me. Granting these men their preferred conditions of confinement would defeat me. It gives them one last chance to spit in my face after murdering my son.”

Godbey Wood said, “It is my decision to reject the plea agreement,” she said after being presented with the plea bargain of Travis McMichael. “In this case, it is appropriate to hear at sentencing from all concerned including the victim’s family.”

The judge said, “I didn’t know if 30 years in federal prison for the men was an appropriate sentence. I can’t say that 360 months is a precise, fair sentence in this case. It could be more, it could be less, it could be that. But given the unique circumstances of this case and my desire to hear from all concerned regarding the sentencing before I pronounce sentence, I am not comfortable accepting the terms of the plea agreement.”

A second hearing for a plea that the government’s attorneys negotiated with the elder, 66-year-old Gregory McMichael, was also scheduled to occur on Monday.  However, since Godbey Wood said her decision would be the same in the older Gregory McMichael’s case, his attorney said there was no need for a hearing.

Arbery was out for a jog on February 23, 2020, in the Satilla shores neighborhood near Brunswick, Georgia, when the McMichael’s assumed he was a burglar, armed themselves and chased him in their pickup truck. Bryan joined the five-minute pursuit, blocking Arbery’s path with his truck and recorded video on cellphone of Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery with a shotgun during a struggle.

The federal hate crimes trial is set to begin on February 7. The men are charged in the federal case with hate crimes and attempted kidnapping. “Travis and Gregory McMichael were also charged with one count each of using, carrying, and brandishing, and in Travis’s case, discharging a firearm, during and in relation to a crime of violence,” according to the Justice Department.