Former cop who was convicted in Floyd killing to be sentenced

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A former Minneapolis police officer who is one of four ex-officers convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights is scheduled to be sentenced this week.

Prosecutors asked a federal judge Thursday to sentence Thomas Lane to between 5¼ to 6½ years in prison for his role in the restraint that killed Floyd on May 25, 2020. His attorney is seeking 27 months.

Lane, J. Alexander

Kueng and Tou Thao were convicted in February of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care as the 46-year-old Black man was pinned under thenOfficer Derek Chauvin’s knee for 9½ minutes while handcuffed and facedown on the street. Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept bystanders back.

Kueng and Thao were also convicted of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin in the videotaped killing that sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the globe as part of a reckoning over racial injustice. Lane, who twice asked his fellow officers whether they should turn Floyd onto his side, did not face that charge.

Prosecutors have recommended that Keung and Thao get less than Chauvin got, but “substantially higher” sentences than what Lane will get. They have not made specific recommendations.

Judge Paul Magnuson, who presided at the three officers’ trial, also scheduled a hearing Friday on

objections by Kueng and Thao to how recommended sentences under the federal sentencing guidelines were calculated in their presentence reports.

Thao’s attorney, Robert Paule, is seeking a sentence of two years. The recommendation from Kueng’s attorney, Thomas Plunkett, remains sealed.

Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, has asked for 27 months, which if granted would let Lane go free after two years. That’s about when Lane would become eligible for release on his recommended state sentence in a plea agreement on a state charge of aiding and abetting manslaughter. Sentencing in that case is set for Sept. 21.