Gregory and Travis McMichael, the White father and son convicted in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, were sentenced Monday to life in prison for their federal convictions on interference with rights -- a hate crime -- along with attempted kidnapping and weapon use charges.
Their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan Jr., the third man involved in Arbery's killing, was sentenced by US District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood to 35 years, which will be served at the same time as his state sentence.
All three men already are serving life sentences for their convictions in state court on a series of charges related to the killing of the 25-year-old Black man, including felony murder.
They will be remanded to state custody to begin their sentences, the judge ruled. Their attorneys had argued they should serve their terms in federal prison
"I'm very relived, I'm glad, I'm thankful," Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said after court. "I want to say thank you to each and every one of you who stood with us through this long process."
During their victim impact statements, Cooper-Jones and other members of the family asked the judge to give the defendants the maximum possible sentence under federal guidelines.
Travis McMichael, his father and Bryan were found guilty of the federal charges in February, with the jury accepting prosecutors' argument the defendants acted out of racial animus toward Arbery.