The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing George Floyd was moved from the Minnesota state prison where he had been housed to a medium-security federal prison in Arizona.
Derek Chauvin spent most of his time in solitary confinement while housed in the state prison. He often spent most of his day confined to a 10-foot by 10-foot cell.
On Wednesday, he was moved to the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson. The medium-security facility is part of a complex with a minimum-security satellite camp and a maximum-security prison. It houses about 266 male and female prisoners.
CNN reports that experts believe that Chauvin will be safer serving his time in the federal system and less likely to run into inmates he may have arrested or investigated as a former member of the police force.
“It’s dangerous to be an officer in any prison,” said former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger. “It’s even more dangerous in state prison because of the nature of the inmate population.”
It’s expected that Chauvin will have more of an opportunity to mix in with other inmates at the Arizona location.
The ex-police officer was given a sentence of 22 ½ years in Minnesota state court for Floyd’s murder. Last month, he was sentenced to 21 years on federal civil rights charges. The former officer pleaded guilty to the charges, and part of the plea called for his sentences to be served concurrently and in a federal prison.
Three other former police officers are also serving time for their roles in Floyd’s death. J. Alexander Keung was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison last month. Tou Thao was also sentenced to three-and-a-half years. Former officer Thomas Lane was given a two-and-a-half year sentence and is expected to begin serving his time later this month at a federal prison in Colorado.
