Jonathan Allen and Rich McKay

ATLANTA (Reuters). AFTER a U.S. judge dismissed Ahmaud’s plea agreement on federal hate crime charges, one of the three White men convicted was ordered back to court Friday.

Travis McMichael (36) had entered into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. His 30-year sentence for civil right offenses was to be completed in a federal jail before he was sent back to Georgia to finish his life term.

Gregory McMichael, his father, and co-defendant (66), had reached a similar agreement with federal prosecutors.

McMichael the younger appeared in court to enter his plea.

In an extraordinary move U.S. District Judge Lisa Wood said that she wouldn’t accept any plea deal. She cited objections from Arbery’s mother Wanda Cooper Jones and other relatives.

It is generally perceived that Georgia’s prison system provides a harsher environment to its inmates than the federal penitentiaries.

Lawyers for McMichael and federal prosecutors filed on Thursday a joint notification of withdrawal from his plea agreement. It reaffirmed McMichael’s earlier guilty plea, and stated that he was willing to go to trial.

McMichael the younger was to go back to Brunswick (NYSE:), Georgia for Friday’s hearing. There, he would also be expected to withdraw the plea agreement.

Travis McMichael did not indicate that he would negotiate a new agreement with the prosecutors or that William Bryan (neighbor) was looking at a plea deal.

All three were found guilty by a state court jury in November for murder, assault, false imprisonment, and criminal intent in February 2020’s shotgun shooting death of Arbery (25), in Brunswick, Georgia.

Arbery died after McMichael the younger shot him in the head as they chased him with pickup trucks through the suburb where they lived together.

McMichaels lawyers claimed that they were trying to arrest Arbery as a citizen. They had suspicions of criminal activity and acted in self defense when confronted by him.

Bryan maintained that he was an innocent observer who just followed along. He recorded the fatal encounter on video. This viral footage sparked public anger months after no arrests had been made.

Bryan was sentenced to a 30-year term with parole eligibility after serving the McMichaels a sentence of life imprisonment.

On Monday, all three of the defendants were due to face trial for federal civil rights violations.

Lee Merritt, an attorney for the family, stated that U.S. Justice Department continues to speak with Arbery’s families about their wishes.

On Thursday, he stated that “the family has made it clear about this.” The family wants the men in prison to continue, but they believe that a trial would be more effective to expose the “truth about the mindsets” of the defendants. Marcus Arbery explained that “we don’t need them in comfort” because the defendants didn’t offer it to his son. “We don’t want them to be blinded again. We also don’t want it to be difficult.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Georgia’s Southern District, based in Savannah, stated that he was unable to comment on Friday’s proceedings. The elder McMichael’s lawyer declined to comment and the younger McMichael’s lawyer did not reply to requests for comment.