St. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced two former Minneapolis police officers who were convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights to lighter terms than recommended in sentencing guidelines, calling one “really a rookie officer” and describing the ‘other as “A good police officer, father and husband”.
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced J. Alexander Kueng to three years in prison and Tou Thao to 3 1/2 years for violating Floyd’s rights in the May 25, 2020, killing in which then-Officer Derek Chauvin he grabbed Floyd’s neck with his knee for over nine. minutes when the 46-year-old black man said he couldn’t breathe and finally lay still. The murder, caught on video by onlookers, sparked worldwide protests and a reckoning of racial injustice.
Kueng held Floyd’s back, Thao held back worried onlookers, and a fourth official, Thomas Lane, held Floyd’s feet. Lane was sentenced last week to two years, also below the guidelines and a sentence that Floyd’s brother Philonise called “insulting,” while Chauvin was earlier sentenced to 21 years. Floyd’s immediate family members did not attend Wednesday’s hearings and did not immediately comment afterward.
The lower sentences for Kueng, who is black, and Thao, who is Hmong American, raise questions about whether they would consider a plea deal or risk a state court trial on Oct. 24, when they face charges of aiding and abetting in the second degree. second degree murder and manslaughter. Lane, who is white, pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and is awaiting sentencing in that case.
Sentencing guidelines on the federal counts called for 4¼ to 5¼ years for Kueng and 5¼ to 6½ years for Thao. For both men, prosecutors argued for sentences in that range or more, arguing in Kueng’s case that he “didn’t say a word” while Floyd was dying. They also argued that Thao’s role was minor, with prosecutor LeeAnn Bell saying she had a “bird’s-eye view of what was going on” with Floyd pinned to the pavement, and that she had “years on the force” that meant that he should have known better. . He said Thao sometimes looked directly at Floyd and sometimes had onlookers tell him exactly what was going on.
The federal government filed civil rights charges against the four officers in May 2021, a month after Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in state court. They were seen as an affirmation of the Justice Department’s priorities to address racial disparities in policing, a promise made by President Joe Biden before his election. And they came just a week after federal prosecutors filed hate crime charges in the slaying of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and announced two broad police investigations in two states.
Magnuson said there was no doubt that Kueng violated Floyd’s rights by failing to remove him when Floyd did not respond. But he also mentioned what he called “an incredible number” of letters of support for Kueng that he said came from other officers.
“You really were a rookie officer,” Magnuson told Kueng.
Thao was sentenced at a subsequent hearing, where he spoke for more than 20 minutes, often quoting scripture as he said his arrest and time in prison led him to turn to God, but he did not directly address his actions or offer any words to the Floyd. family Thao, like Lane and Kueng, remains free on bond but spent several weeks in jail after his 2020 arrest on state charges.
Magnuson again acknowledged the letters of support for the former officer, including one he said had 744 signatures, and cited what he called Thao’s “absolutely clean record.”
“You had a difficult childhood and you have done well to become a good policeman, father and husband,” the judge said.
Mark Osler, Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas, a former federal prosecutor, said before Wednesday’s sentencing hearings that Kueng and Thao will likely seek a plea deal on the state charges that would not exceed the federal sentence and would allow them to serve the sentences concurrently.
Both men are scheduled to report to federal prison on Oct. 4, though Magnuson noted that could change because of their state trial. Magnuson said he would recommend that they be allowed to serve their time at minimum-security federal facilities in Duluth or Yankton, South Dakota, so they can be near family. The final decision rests with the Bureau of Prisons.
Chauvin, who is white, was the most senior officer at the scene and was sentenced to a 22 1/2-year state sentence that is being served concurrently with his federal sentence. He has been held in solitary confinement at the state’s maximum security prison in Oak Park Heights for his own safety since his murder conviction and will eventually be transferred to federal prison.
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Associated Press/Report for America reporter Trisha Ahmed contributed.
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