Former Officer Thomas Lane Sentenced to Three Years in State Prison for Aiding George Floyd’s Death

Thomas Lane, the ex-Minneapolis officer who held down George Floyd’s legs in the 2020 incident that led to Floyd’s death was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday on a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. He pleaded guilty to the charges in May.

Lane is already serving a 2.5-year federal sentence in a Colorodo facility for violating Floyd’s civil rights. As far as the state case, prosecutors and the former officer’s attorneys jointly agreed to a recommended sentence of three years, which is below the sentencing guidelines. It was also agreed that Lane would serve his state sentence concurrently with his federal sentence. He’s already received credit for 31 days already served.

Lane held down Floyd’s legs as Officer Derek Chauvin pinned him to the ground with his knee on his neck during a May 2020 arrest attempt. Officer J. Alexander Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back and officer Tou Thao kept bystanders from intervening.

Lane, Thao and Kueng were all convicted in February on federal charges of violating George Floyd’s civil rights by failing to intervene or provide medical aid as Chauvin kneeled on the back of Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.

Last year, Chauvin was convicted in state court of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison. He also pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights in December and was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison in July.