Federal U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, 46, to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, and ultimately his murder, on Thursday, July 7, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Chauvin was convicted in a separate case on state charges of murder and manslaughter. He is already jailed. In total, Chauvin will serve 252 months, subtracting seven months for time he has served as of July, 2022. Following his incarceration, he will serve five years of supervised release.
Backstory
On May 25, 2020, a cashier accused George Floyd, 46, of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. Chauvin then pinned the unarmed, handcuffed, Black man to the pavement with his knee pressed against Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, until he suffocated.
The footage recorded by distressed onlookers sparked a worldwide demand for police reform.
Chauvin’s federal charges included two counts of depriving Floyd of his rights: kneeling on his neck as he was handcuffed and failing to provide medical care.
Judge Cahill wrote in a memorandum the case warranted a harsher sentence because Chauvin “abused his position of trust and authority” and treated Floyd “without respect and denied him the dignity owed to all human beings.”
Chauvin simultaneously also pleaded guilty to another incident against a Black person in the plea agreement from a 2017 incident. Chauvin pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of John Pope Jr., a Black then 14-year-old.
Chauvin grabbed Pope Jr. by the throat, hit him repeatedly in the head with a flashlight and pressed his knee into the boy’s neck while he lay prone, face down, on the ground, handcuffed and not resisting. Prosecutors said unreleased bodycam footage showed Chauvin kneeling on the boy’s back for 17 minutes while the boy was crying for his mother.
Chauvin was serving in “administrative segregation” at Minnesota’s maximum-security prison at Oak Park Heights. He was in solitary confinement in a 10-by-10-foot room and allowed to leave for an hour a day for exercise.
The new federal sentence added a few extra years to the time Chauvin is currently serving for his murder conviction. The two sentences [state and federal] will run concurrently. Chauvin had the potential to serve at least 15 years, as Minnesota state prisoners on average serve one-third of their sentence on parole.
Chauvin pleaded guilty to violating Floyd’s civil rights on December 15, 2021. The plea deal marked the first time Chauvin admitted he kept his knee on Floyd’s neck – even after becoming unresponsive and willfully deprived Floyd of his right to be free from unreasonable seizure.
Chauvin’s attorney Eric Nelson asked for 20 years, arguing that Chauvin was remorseful and would demonstrate that to the court. Yet Chauvin’s remarks did not mention an apology or even remorse, just simply wished Floyd’s children, “All the best.”
Nelson requested Chauvin never be placed in a prison’s general population because of the risks of him becoming a target because of the “intense publicity surrounding his case.” Experts say Chauvin will probably mix with other inmates at some point.
Three other fired-former Minneapolis police officers – Tou Thao, J. Alexander Keung and Thomas Lane – convicted in February 2022 of federal civil rights charges in Floyd’s death in aiding and abetting Chauvin in Floyd’s murder.
“You absolutely destroyed the lives of three young officers by taking command of the scene,” Judge Magnuson said to Chauvin in the courtroom.
Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, said it was difficult for the defense to negotiate when the three still didn’t know their federal sentences.
Lane is due to be sentenced on Sept. 21, after pleading guilty in state court to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Thao and Kueng rejected the undisclosed plea deals and are due to be tried in state court on Oct. 24.
“George’s life matters,” Mr. Floyd’s brother, Philonese, said in court on Thursday and asked for the judge to give the maximum sentence of 25 years.
Based on the plea agreement, Chauvin will serve the new federal and state sentences in federal prison. The judge has not set a sentencing date for Chauvin or for three other ex-officers convicted of related federal civil rights charges on February 24, 2022.
