- Two of Ahmaud Arbery's killers reached a plea deal with prosecutors, new court filings show.
- The family attorney said: "This back room deal represents a betrayal to the Arbery family who is devastated."
- Arbery's mother said: "I have been completely betrayed by the DOJ's lawyers."
The family of Ahmaud Arbery accused the Department of Justice of "betrayal" after it reached a plea deal with two of his killers.
Court filings submitted Sunday night show that Travis and Gregory McMichael reached a plea deal with prosecutors as part of the federal hate crimes investigation into them.
The two white men — along with another man, William Bryan — were found guilty of murder in Georgia in November for the shooting death of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was jogging at the time. They were sentenced to life in prison, with the McMichaels getting no possibility of parole.
The details of the agreements have not yet been made public.
But Lee Merritt, an attorney for Arbery's family, said the deals would allow the McMichaels to be transferred to a preferred federal facility.
Merritt said: "This back room deal represents a betrayal to the Arbery family who is devastated."
Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said in a statement cited by Axios: "The DOJ has gone behind my back to offer the men who murdered my son a deal to make their time in prison easier for them to serve."
"I have made it clear at every possible moment that I do not agree to offer these men a plea deal of any kind. I have been completely betrayed by the DOJ's lawyers."
The family plans to argue against the deal in court on Monday, Merritt said, according to Axios.