UPDATED 10/24/22, 11:14 a.m. ET: J. Alexander Kueng has now pleaded guilty in connection with the murder of George Floyd, per a report from the Associated Press.
On Monday, Kueng entered a plea deal calling for a sentence of a three and a half years behind bars. Per reports, prosecutors are expected to agree to drop a count of aiding and abetting second-degree murder as part of the arrangement, which sees the former Minneapolis cop pleading guilty to a similar charge, albeit at the manslaughter level.
Meanwhile, Tou Thao previously rejected a deal, with jury selection in his trial set to start on Monday.
See original story below.
Thomas Lane has been sentenced to three years behind bars on a state charge in connection with the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
Per a report from the Associated Press, Lane—a former Minneapolis cop—was sentenced during a remote hearing on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. The three-year sentence marks an agreement between state prosecutors and Lane’s legal team.
“I am pleased Thomas Lane has accepted responsibility for his role in Floyd’s death,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said of Lane’s plea deal in May. “His acknowledgment he did something wrong is an important step toward healing the wounds of the Floyd family, our community, and the nation.”
Lane was previously sentenced to two and a half years at the federal level in July following his conviction of violating Floyd’s constitutional rights.
“Had this defendant and other officers on the scene with Derek Chauvin taken simple steps, George Floyd would be alive today,” Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said at the time.
As for the new three-year state sentence, part of the agreement between prosecutors and Lane’s legal team was that this sentence would be served simultaneously with his federal sentence. Lane is presently housed at a federal facility in Colorado.
In August, Derek Chauvin—convicted at the state level of murdering Floyd—was revealed to have been transferred from a max-security Minnesota prison to a federal facility in Arizona.
This past May marked the second anniversary of Floyd’s death, with President Biden acknowledging the moment in comments to the press regarding the signing of an executive order on policing.
“Two summers ago, in the middle of a pandemic, we saw protests across the nation the likes of which you hadn’t seen since the 1960s,” Biden said. “They unified people of every race and generation. … The message is clear: Enough!”
