ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A federal judge sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane to 2 1/2 years in prison Thursday for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, calling Lane’s role in the restraint that killed Floyd “a very serious crime, in which a life was lost,” but handing down a sentence well below what prosecutors and Floyd’s family wanted.
Judge Paul Magnuson’s sentence was just a little more than the 27 months Lane’s attorney had asked for, while prosecutors had asked for at least 5 1/4 years in prison — the low end of federal guidelines for the charge Lane was convicted of earlier this year . He said Lane, who faces sentencing in September on state charges in Floyd’s murder, will remain free on bail pending his Oct. 4 surrender.
Lane, who is white, held Floyd’s legs while Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 1/2 minutes on May 25, 2020. Bystander video of Floyd, who was black, pleading not to can breathe, sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the world in retaliation for racial injustice against police.
Two other employees, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Tao, were also convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights and will be sentenced at a later date.
Floyd’s family members had asked Magnuson to give Lane the harshest sentence possible, with brother Philonise Floyd dismissing the idea that Lane deserved any mercy after asking colleagues twice if George Floyd should be moved from his stomach to his side.
“Officer Lane did not intervene one way or the other,” he said.
Prosecutor Manda Sertic also argued for a higher sentence, saying Lane “chose not to act” when he could have saved a life.
“There has to be a line where blindly following the lead of a senior officer, even for a rookie officer, is not acceptable,” she said.
Magnuson told Lane that “the fact that you did not get up and remove Mr. Chauvin when Mr. Floyd became unconscious is a violation of the law.” But he also held up 145 letters he said he received in support of Lane, saying he had never received so many on behalf of a defendant. And he accused the Minneapolis Police Department of sending Lane and another rookie officer to the conversation that ended in Floyd’s death.
At Chauvin’s sentencing earlier this month on civil rights charges in Floyd’s murder, Magnuson appeared to suggest that he bore the brunt of the blame in the case, telling Chauvin: “You completely destroyed the lives of three young officers by taking command on stage.”
Lane did not speak at Thursday’s sentencing, and neither he nor his attorney, Earl Gray, would comment to reporters afterward.
Prosecutors had no immediate comment afterward.
Magnuson also said he would recommend Lane serve his sentence at the federal prison in Duluth, about 2 1/2 hours from the Minneapolis area.
Gray claimed during the trial that Lane “did everything possible to help George Floyd.” He pointed out that Lane offered to roll Floyd onto his side so he could breathe, but was rebuffed twice by Chauvin. He also noted that Lane performed CPR to try to revive Floyd after the ambulance arrived.
Lane testified at trial that he didn’t realize how serious Floyd’s condition was until paramedics turned him over.
When Lane pleaded guilty in state court in May, Gray said Lane hoped to avoid a lengthy sentence. “He has a newborn baby and he didn’t want to risk not being a part of the child’s life,” he said.
Chauvin pleaded guilty to separate federal civil rights charges in December in Floyd’s killing and in an unrelated case involving a black teenager. That resulted in a 21-year sentence from Magnuson, toward the lower end of the 20- to 25-year range both sides agreed to under his plea agreement.
Chauvin was already serving a 22 1/2-year state court sentence for second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. His federal and state sentences run concurrently.
Kueng held Floyd’s back during the arrest, and Tao helped hold back an increasingly concerned group of onlookers outside a Minneapolis convenience store where Floyd, who was unarmed, tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Magnuson has not set sentencing dates for Thao, who is Hmong American, and Kueng, who is black. But he has scheduled a hearing for Friday on their lawyers’ objections to how their sentences should be calculated under complex federal guidelines. Prosecutors are seeking unspecified sentences for them, which would be less than Chauvin’s but “significantly higher” than Lane’s.
Tao and Kueng are free on bail pending sentencing. They refused plea deals and are scheduled to go to trial Oct. 24 on state charges of aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
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Story updated with correct reference to the month Floyd was killed.
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