Ahmaud Arbery.
Two men who were convicted of murderingAhmaud Arberyafter chasing him in a Georgia neighborhood were sentenced on Monday to life in prison for committing a federal hate crime.
“The evidence we presented at trial proved what so many people felt in their hearts when they watched the video of Ahmaud’s tragic and unnecessary death,” prosecutor Christopher Perras said in court before Travis' sentencing. “This would have never happened if [Arbery] had been white.”
Travis' neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan is also scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.
The defense countered that the three men believed Arbery matched the description of someone who reportedly had burglarized a home construction site in the neighborhood, and they were attempting a citizen’s arrest when they cornered him with their Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado pickups before the scuffle broke out.
Travis, at left, and Gregory McMichael.
Earlier this year, the three men were convicted in Georgia state court andgiven life sentences. Bryan was the only defendant who was given the possibility of parole.
But after that trial, all three defendants were tried in federal court on hate crime charges. Any sentencing they receive in the federal case will be served concurrently with their Georgia sentences.
All three defendants have remained jailed in Glynn County, Georgia. Because they were first convicted of murder in a state court, they will be turned over to the Georgia Department of Corrections to serve their life terms in a state prison.
In court filings last week, both Travis and Greg McMichael requested a transfer to federal prison, claiming they won’t be safe in a Georgia prison system. In court on Monday, the judge declined to transfer Travis McMichael out of the state prison.
source: people.com
