ATLANTA – Before the three men convicted of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery were convicted Monday on federal hate crimes charges, they asked a judge to consider not only the length of their sentences but also the location of their convictions. point, with one attorney arguing that if her client went straight to Georgia’s treacherous state prison system, he would be subject to “the vigil of justice.”
The men did not get what they asked for.
U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood said she had “no authority nor inclination” to send three white men to federal prison in lieu of the Georgia prison system, where safety issues so serious that they are the subject of investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
Judge Wood said the men would go to the state prison first, as they were being charged with murder for the first time by state authorities. At the same time, the judge handed down harsh sentences to the men for their federal crimes, including the hate crimes of “interference with rights” and conspiracy to kidnap.
Travis McMichael, 36, who shot Mr Arbery with a shotgun, was sentenced to life in prison. So does his 66-year-old father, Gregory McMichael. Their neighbor, 52-year-old William Bryan – who joined the McMichaels in chasing Mr Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, through their neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon in February 2020 – received the sentence. 35 years.
The federal sentences will apply concurrently with the life sentences stemming from each man’s murder convictions in state court, for which only Bryan is deemed eligible for parole. – and then only after 30 years.
In a statement, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the convictions “make it clear that hate crimes have no place in our country, and the department will not stop working to hold those responsible accountable. cause them”.
Monday’s courtroom drama – which featured rare words of public remorse in court from Mr Bryan and Mr McMichael – closed a chapter “in an excruciatingly painful journey.” As federal prosecutor Tara M. Lyons put it, “for Ahmaud The Arbery family and an entire nation mourned Ahmaud along with his loved ones”.
Long federal sentences are expected for the three men after they were convicted in Judge Wood’s courtroom in February. The idea that they would be able to serve at least some time in a federal prison, as opposed to Georgia’s prison system, became an emotional highlight when it was first mooted in the agreements. The proposed plea agreement for McMichaels was presented to the court. in January; it was ultimately denied by Judge Wood.
In a filing last week, Amy Lee Copeland, an attorney for Travis McMichael, wrote that her client has received “hundreds of threats,” including “statements that his image has been saved.” operating through the state prison system on pirated cell phones, which people are ‘waiting. him, ‘that he should not enter the yard, and correctional officers have promised to be ready (whether paid or free) to keep some doors unlocked and with their backs turned to allow inmates harm him. “
But Mr. Arbery’s family members went to federal court in Brunswick, Ga., on Monday and argued that the three men did not deserve special treatment following their notorious vigilante behaviours. to Mr. Arbery.
Marcus Arbery Sr., Arbery’s father, said in court on Monday: “These three demons broke my heart into pieces. He added that he hoped the men would “rot in the state prison.”
In three separate hearings, the defense attorneys for the three men demanded that at least the first part of their client’s terms be served in the federal system. Ms Copeland notes the “rich irony” that her clients are concerned about vigilance violence. But she argued for a “cool-down” period in federal prison to last for the duration of the appeals process. Putting her client in a state prison right now would “effectively” lead to “the death penalty from the back door,” she said.
In announcing their investigation, federal officials said safety issues in Georgia’s prison system were caused by staffing shortages, training issues and other factors. Ms. Copeland cited an analysis from Georgia Public Broadcasting that found that 53 homicides occurred in Georgia state prisons in 2020 and 2021.
McMichaels and Mr. Bryan are currently being held at a local jail, the Glynn County Detention Center, where they have been since their arrest in May 2020. They have been released for weeks after Travis McMichael shot Mr. Arbery at close range with a shotgun.
The fatal shooting came after the men, in a pickup, chased Mr Arbery, who was walking, through their suburban neighborhood of Satilla Shores, just outside Brunswick. The chase and killing was captured in a video that went viral on the internet, sparking worldwide outrage and assertions from civil rights leaders that Mr Arbery had been punished. modern punishment.
Moments before being chased, Mr. Arbery was in a house under construction; McMichaels suspected him of committing a series of property crimes. Relatives of Mr Arbery said Mr Arbery, an avid runner, went out for a run on Sunday. In court proceedingsprosecutors argued that all three defendants harbored racial grudges against blacks.
In court on Monday, AJ Balbo, an attorney for Gregory McMichael, asked for clemency, noting that his client suffered from heart conditions, depression and anxiety. Bryan’s attorney, J. Pete Theodocion, noted that his client, unlike McMichaels, was not armed during the chase. However, prosecutors noted that Mr. Bryan used his truck to stop Mr. Arbery as he tried to run out of the vicinity.
Judge Wood said she spent a long time thinking about appropriate sentences for the men. At one point, she referred to the February 2022 federal trial she presided over, in which all three men were found guilty of federal hate crimes.
It was a fair trial, Judge Wood said – “the kind of trial that Ahmaud Arbery didn’t get before he was shot dead.”
The three men took no position in their trials. But on Monday, Mr. Bryan apologized to Mr. Arbery’s family: “I never intended to harm him,” he said.
Travis McMichael declined to answer in court. But his father spoke before the sentencing. Gregory McMichael told the Arbery family: “The loss you have suffered is indescribable. “I’m sure my words mean little to you. But I want to assure you, I never wanted any of this to happen.”
The McMichaels were each given additional sentences, running continuously rather than simultaneously, because of their use of guns in the incident. Technically, Mr. Bryan was given 447 months, with 27 months off during his service.
“By the time you serve your federal sentence, you will be close to 90 years old,” the judge told Bryan. “But, again, Mr. Arbery never got the chance to be 26.”
