George Floyd Death: Ex-Minnesota Cop Gets Final Ruling for Role in Floyd Killing

One of the four former Minneapolis police officers who were present at the scene of George Floyd's death, Thomas Lane, was given his manslaughter sentence on Wednesday.

After previously entering a guilty plea to a state charge of second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death, Lane was given a three-year sentence.

Ex-Minneapolis Police Officer Thomas Lane Sentenced to 3 Years

He previously served a two-and-a-half-year federal term for violating Floyd's civil rights. After the Wednesday sentencing, Lane won't be spending any more time in jail. After negotiating a plea deal with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office, Lane decided to plead guilty in exchange for a three-year state sentence that would run concurrently with his federal sentence.

On May 25, 2020, Floyd died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, a White man, pushed the Black man, 46, to the ground while he continuously whined about not being able to breathe.

Lane held Floyd's legs in place. Tou Thao, a man named Alexander Kueng, and a third person who was kneeling on Floyd's back for almost 9 1/2 minutes kept bystanders from interfering. A bystander video that went viral online prompted three nights of violent rioting in Minneapolis and other major cities around the country as well as daytime protests for the Black Lives Matter racial justice movement, as per Fox News.

The sentencing hearing took place online on Wednesday. Lane was seen on camera during the term from the least security federal prison camp in Littleton, Colorado, the whole thing took about eight minutes. He remained silent in front of the court before being condemned. The court had said that Lane would need to register as a predatory offender if required, but Lane argued to his attorney after the case was postponed that this was not the case.

In 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in state prison after being found guilty of murder and manslaughter. His state and federal sentences are being served concurrently after he also entered a guilty plea to a federal count of violating Floyd's civil rights.

Additionally found guilty on federal civil rights charges, Kueng and Thao received sentences of three and three and a half years, respectively. They are due to stand trial in October on state accusations of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter, but they have not yet gone to federal prison, according to CBS News.

Judge Accepts Plea Agreement

In Hennepin County District Court on Wednesday, Judge Peter A. Cahill, who has presided over the trials of all four cops accused in connection with Floyd's death, accepted the plea deal. Lane attended the virtual hearing while dressed in a gray jail uniform. Lane has been detained in a federal prison in Colorado since last month. Lane had the opportunity to address the court, but he turned it down.

As stated in the plea bargain, Lane acknowledged that his experience and training as a police officer had taught him about the dangers of handcuffing someone who was lying down. Lane "was able to hear Floyd repeat that he could not breathe multiple times during the restraint," the agreement adds.

Lane continued to intentionally assist in the restraint, creating and consciously taking an unreasonable risk of causing death, and caused the death of George Floyd, the agreement states. Lane knew from his training that officers should have placed Floyd in the side-recovery position to facilitate breathing.

Since credit for good behavior is calculated differently by federal and state officials, Lane's three-year state sentence will run concurrently with his federal sentence and is unlikely to affect how long Lane stays behind bars. Given that Minnesota only requires inmates to serve two-thirds of their sentences, Lane would only be forced to serve a two-year state prison term, New York Times reported.