The family of Ahmaud Arbery has rejected an 11th-hour plea deal for the three men who murdered the Black man in Georgia in February 2020 which would have sentenced them to 30 years in federal prison on hate crimes charges.

       Attorney Lee Merritt said Mr Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper-Jones had been approached by the Department of Justice about the plea deal earlier this week.

       The deal would have sentenced the three murderers – Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. – to 30 years in federal prison.

       “She rejected that offer because we believe that today the state will move forward with life sentences without the possibility of parole, and we think that’s the appropriate sentence,” Mr Merritt told CNN.

       The offer came ahead of Friday’s sentencing for the three men on state charges, after they were each found guilty of murder back in November.

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       The killers face a separate federal trial, set to begin in February, on hate crime charges which accuse the three men of using force to intimidate and interfere with Mr Arbery’s rights because of his race.

       They face life in prison on these federal charges.

       During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Mr Arbery’s family members called for the three killers to spend the rest of their lives behind bars as they gave emotional victim impact statements.

       Ms Cooper-Jones said the three men murdered her son “because they didn’t want him in their community”.

       Recommended Ahmaud Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper-Jones to give victim impact statement at murderers’ sentencing Three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery face life in prison at sentencing Ahmaud Arbery: Three white men convicted of murder to face federal hate crimes trial

       “These men have chose to lie and attack my son and his surviving family, they each have no remorse and don’t deserve any leniency,” she said.

       “This wasn’t a case of mistaken identity. They chose to target my son because they didn’t want him in their community... and when they couldn’t sufficiently scare him or intimidate him they killed him.”

       Mr Arbery’s father Marcus Arbery described how he had watched the father and son duo Travis and Gregory McMichael sitting together in the courtroom throughout the trial, while he will never sit with his son again.

       “The man who killed my son has sat in this courtroom every single day next to his father,” he said.

       “I’ll never get that chance of sitting next to my son ever again, not at the dinner table, not at the holidays and not anywhere.”

       All three men will be handed mandatory minimum sentences of life in prison for their state murder charges.

       However, the judge will decide whether they will be granted life with or without the possibility of parole.

       Under Georgia law, even with the possibility of parole, they will not be eligible for release for at least 30 years.

       Murder is also punishable by the death penalty in Georgia, but prosecutors chose not to seek the death penalty in this case.

       Each count of aggravated assault also carries a sentence of between one and 20 years in prison.

       False imprisonment is punishable by one to 10 years in prison and criminal attempt to commit a felony by one to five years in prison.

       Ahmaud Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper-Jones wipes a tear from her eyes while listening to her daughter’s impact statement in court on Friday

       (AP)

       Prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence both Travis and Gregory McMichael to life without parole but for Bryan to be sentenced to life with the possibility of parole.

       The three men chased Mr Arbery, who was unarmed, through the Satilla Shores neighbourhood in their pickup trucks before shooting him dead in the road back on 23 February 2020.

       Footage of the attack, filmed by Mr Bryan on his smartphone, sent shockwaves around the world and reignited calls for racial justice following the murder of George Floyd.

       All three men were charged with nine counts, including one count of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

       Travis McMichael was convicted of all nine charges, Gregory McMichael of eight charges, excluding the count of malice murder, and Bryan of six charges – three counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault, one count of false imprisonment and one count of criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.