(Minneapolis) Former police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced Thursday to more than 20 years in prison by the United States federal justice system for having asphyxiated the African-American George Floyd with his knee in May 2020.
The 46-year-old former agent had already been sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison by the Minnesota state court, but he appealed the sentence. The concurrent federal sentence is, for its part, final since it results from a plea agreement.
Prosecutors were demanding that Derek Chauvin serve the full 25 years in prison on the grounds that Chauvin’s actions were ruthless and unnecessary.
The defense was instead asking for 20 years in prison since Chauvin accepts responsibility for what he did, and he has already received a 22.5-year prison sentence in state court for the murder of George Floyd. . Attorney Eric Nelson wrote that Chauvin’s “remorse will be on display in this Court”, hinting that Derek Chauvin is likely to speak at Thursday’s hearing.
Former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger said a judge could take such a statement into consideration when deciding the sentence.
“It’s an opportunity for him to say, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean, I didn’t think, or whatever,'” Mr. Heffelfinger said. In Federal Court, it is very advantageous for the prisoner to feel remorse, and to show remorse, even more than at the time of sentencing by the State”, he underlined.
Derek Chauvin briefly addressed the family of George Floyd during his sentencing hearing in May 2021, offering his condolences. Floyd’s parents had then made a victim impact statement, and they are entitled to do so on Thursday. Lawyers for the family did not respond to requests for comment on their plans.
In his federal closing argument, Chauvin admitted for the first time that he kept his knee on Floyd’s neck — even as the black man begged him to stop, saying ‘I can’t breathe’ — before coaching the latter’s death. Chauvin, a white police officer, admitted to willfully depriving Floyd of his right to be free from unreasonable seizure, including unreasonable force by a police officer, during the May 2020 arrest.
The death of George Floyd has sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the world, speaking out against police brutality and racism.
For his own protection, Chauvin is being held in solitary confinement in a 10-foot-by-10-foot room at the state’s maximum security prison which he is allowed to leave for only one hour a day for exercise.
Defense attorney Eric Nelson said last month that Chauvin may never be placed among other inmates at a prison because of security risks.
Chauvin’s plea asks him to serve the federal sentence concurrently with the state, and to serve it in federal prison. He is expected to serve more time behind bars than he would have on the state sentence alone.
However, experts argue that Chauvin could be safer, and live under fewer restrictions, in federal prison. His security level and final destination will be the responsibility of the United States Bureau of Prisons, which could send him anywhere in the country.
The former police officer would run the risk within the prison population of the State of Minnesota to meet inmates that he had arrested or investigated. While he can’t entirely escape his notoriety in a federal prison elsewhere in the country, he’s unlikely to meet inmates with whom he has a direct connection. If the United States Bureau of Prisons decides it is safe enough within the prison population, it will have more opportunities to move around in prison, work, and participate in programs.
Three other former Minneapolis police officers — Tou Thao, J. Alexander Keung and Thomas Lane — were convicted in February of civil rights charges in Floyd’s killing. Judge Magnuson has not yet set a date for sentencing.
Lane is also due to receive his sentence Sept. 21 after pleading guilty in state court to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Thao and Kueng have rejected plea offers and are due in state court next October 24 on aiding and abetting charges.
