Derek Chauvin Sentenced to 21 Years in Federal Prison for Violating George Floyd's Civil Rights
Category: News & Politics
Via: buzz-of-the-orient • 2 years ago • 10 commentsBy: By Tristan Balagtas
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Derek Chauvin Sentenced to 21 Years in Federal Prison for Violating George Floyd's Civil Rights
Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty to the federal charges in December 2021
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 21 years in federal prison after pleading guilty last December to violating George Floyd 's civil rights in 2020 as well as those of a 14-year-old in 2017, according to multiple reports.
He will be given seven months credit for time served, making his sentence 245 months, or a little more than 20 years, KARE reports .
Prosecutors had asked for 25 years, while Chauvin's defense attorneys had asked for 20 years.
"I really don't know why you did what you did, but to put your knee on another person's neck until they expire is simply wrong, and for that conduct you must be substantially punished," U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson said during sentencing, CBS Minnesota reports .
The outlet reports Chauvin briefly addressed Floyd's family, wishing his children "all the best in their life," but he did not apologize.
In 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in state prison in Minnesota after being convicted of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for the killing of George Floyd . He learned his fate for his federal conviction on Thursday in U.S. District Court.
On May 25, 2020, Chauvin murdered Floyd, a Black man, by kneeling on his neck for more than five minutes. The viral video of Floyd's murder was captured on video that went viral, sparking the nation's largest civil rights protests in decades along with continuing conversations about police brutality and racial injustice.
In December 2021, Chauvin pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Floyd's civil rights . Prosecutors charged Chauvin with multiple federal civil rights violations in two cases — one involving Floyd, and another involving a then 14-year-old in a 2017 case. In both instances, Chauvin held his knee on the neck of the victim in police custody, displaying what prosecutors said was "unreasonable force by a police officer."
Chauvin pleaded guilty to one count of violating the person's civil rights in each case, in exchange for prosecutors' agreement to dismiss other related charges, The Washington Post previously reported.
In exchange for his guilty plea, Chauvin requested he be allowed to serve his time in federal prison, as opposed to the state prison.
According to ABC News , per the agreement he signed in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minn., Chauvin must serve at least 20 years of his federal sentence.
Citing the agreement, the outlet reports Chauvin could have potentially been paroled after serving 15 years of his 22.5 year state prison sentence. But with his federal sentence, he will serve at least 20 years.
Floyd was detained by Minneapolis police for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. The bystander's video of his murder showed Chauvin, his hands in his pockets and his sunglasses perched atop his head, with Floyd underneath him crying out for his dead mother and repeatedly gasping, "I can't breathe."
Chauvin was fired a day after the murder.
Three other former police officers who responded to the call with Chauvin were also found guilty of violating Floyd's civil rights.
Thomas Lane pleaded guilty to state charges in May, while the state trials of Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng will begin in October.
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I assume they'll keep him separated from the other inmates or there's no damn way he'll survive for a year, let alone 21.
Federal prison - isn't that a walk in the park compared to others? When I see him with his knee on that poor man's neck - I see red.
Well, none of them are fun, but yeah, the federal facilities are usually nicer and the security is better. I think he’ll be fine. Asking for federal prison was probably a good call.
If Martha Stewart can do it...
I don't think he is expecting to get out, period.
His lawyers had to earn their pay somehow.
Yes he will be "safer" in a Federal prison; but all it takes is one opportunity and he is dead. He will still be just as much of a target.
Shocked they didn't make the sentences concurrent. If nothing else to make an example out of him.
I think the sentences ARE concurrent, which means they are served at the same time. If they were consecutive it would be more than 40 years.
I figure you mean consecutive.
When the sentencing on a second case is still related to the same basic act, the default is to just run the sentences concurrently. Although, they can run them consecutive or partially consecutive to get to what the court thinks is a reasonable overall punishment for the crime.
He’s still spending over 20 years in prison, which is pretty substantial.
Did the court say "no parole"?
Not that I’m aware of, but I believe he is required to serve at least 20 years of his time.
God, I still remember the first time I saw that snuff video on the news. It was so incomprehensible to me I didn't even get that he was kneeling on the guys throat until he died until it was explained. Surely something else must be going on here, right? He's waiting for medics? He's applying pressure to a wound? There was no other way to restrain the man? Who on earth spends 9 minutes killing a man in handcuffs?