Disgraced Minneapolis officer walks free from prison two years after conviction in George Floyd’s death
Thomas Lane, 41, is the first of four officers to be released following death that sparked nationwide racial justice protests
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Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane has been released from prison two years after he was convicted in the 2020 death of George Floyd.
Lane was one of four officers to be convicted in Floyd’s death which led to nationwide racial justice protests.
The 41-year-old was found guilty in 2022 of violating Floyd’s civil rights. The 46-year-old Black man was handcuffed and restrained as he lay on his stomach for more than nine minutes, telling officers that he couldn’t breathe.
Lane was only on his fourth day as an officer, CNN noted, and he held down Floyd’s legs as he was arrested. Another officer, Derek Chauvin, pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck while Officer Alexander Kueng held down Floyd’s upper body. Fellow officer Tou Thao kept back witnesses as they grew increasingly upset at the scene.
Lane asked twice if they should reposition Floyd and gave Floyd CPR after paramedics had placed him in an ambulance. However, prosecutors said he didn’t do enough to help the 46-year-old, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.
In July 2022, Lane was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison. He was subsequently sentenced to three years in prison on the state level later that same year after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
That came after he faced the charge of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder, but the charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Prosecutors and defense lawyers recommended a 36-month sentence, but a lighter sentence was imposed.
Lane served his sentences concurrently at the Englewood prison in Colorado. The low-security prison has about 1,000 inmates. He’s the first of the four officers to be released.
“He has a two-year term of supervision imposed through the District of Minnesota,” a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons told CNN.
Lane finished his federal sentence in June and stayed in detention to finish his state sentence. He left prison on Tuesday morning.
The four officers were all convicted on both federal and state charges in the death of Floyd.
In April 2021, Chauvin was found guilty on the state charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 and half years behind bars. In November last year, the Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of the sentence.
Chauvin subsequently pleaded guilty to charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights on the federal level. He was sentenced to 21 years to be served concurrently with his state sentence.
In November 2023, the ex-officer was stabbed at a federal correctional facility in Arizona. The Bureau of Prisons told CNN that Chauvin was transferred on Tuesday to a low-security prison in Texas.
Kueng and Thao were both found guilty by a federal jury of having violated Floyd’s civil rights. Kueng was sentenced to three years and Thao to three and a half years.
On the state level, Kueng pleaded guilty to charges of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in December 2022. On the same state charges, Thao was sentenced to almost five years in August last year.