Gregory McMichael Had Money Woes Before Deadly Face Off With Ahmaud Arbery

Source: Handout / Ahmaud Arbery

Gregory McMichael, the elder of the father/son duo arrested Thursday for gunning down Ahmaud Arbery while he was out jogging, was under tremendous financial pressure in the years leading up to the deadly confrontation.

The 64-year-old ex-detective and his family has appeared to struggle with living within their means, records show. He faced foreclosure, a $12,000 IRS bill, owed more than $30,000 on various credit cards and in medical bills – all leading to him filing for bankruptcy, BOSSIP can reveal.

McMichael and his wife, Allison, filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2009, listing $334,032 in assets, but $397,164 in liabilities – and had no cash on hand and about $500 in several checking accounts, according to court papers obtained by BOSSIP.

Despite pulling in nearly $4,000 a month in gross income from his job as an investigator for the Glynn County District Attorney’s Office, and his wife making almost $5,000 from her job at the Southeast Georgia Health Systems, the pair were struggling to pay their mounting debts and later had at least one home foreclosed, according to their bankruptcy and foreclosure paperwork, which was obtained by BOSSIP.

Source: Courtesy of the Glynn County Sheriff’s Department / Glynn County Sheriff

McMichael’s bankruptcy filing also paints a picture of his life outside of Savannah, Ga. where on Feb. 23 police said he and his son Travis stalked and then fatally confronted a jogging Arbery because they believed he’d burglarized homes in his neighborhood. Interestingly, McMichaels revealed he owned $2,000 worth of firearms in his bankruptcy asset listing, his court docs state.

McMichaels said he owned a powerboat, a canoe and two late-model SUVs and one Volkswagen Beetle. He also listed $800 in hand tools, $300 in landscaping equipment along with three dogs and one cat, his filing states.

McMichael’s case spent five years in court before McMichaels was finally discharged from bankruptcy in 2014. In total, McMichael and his wife had their wages garnished at a rate of $1,900 a month to pay a total of $114,008 to settle the bankruptcy and pay their creditors, according to his court papers.

Source: Courtesy of the Glynn County Sheriff’s Department / Glynn County Sheriff

The McMichaels men were arrested Thursday over Arbery’s death following an uproar over a now-viral video of his last moments, the local district attorney said he planned to convene a Grand Jury to review evidence in the case next month.

BOSSIP’s attempts to reach McMichael and the lawyer who represented him in the bankruptcy Thursday were unsuccessful. He told CNN that he would not be commenting on the case because he was under investigation.