Thomas Lane, a former Minneapolis police officer, was given a sentence of 2 and a 1/2 years in prison on Thursday for violating the civil rights of George Floyd. The judge called Lane’s involvement in the restraint that killed Floyd “a grave offence in which a life was lost,” but the sentence he imposed was significantly less than what the prosecution and Floyd’s family had asked for.

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In August 2019, Thomas Kiernan Lane, then 37, and James Alexander Kueng, then 26 years old, received their licences to work as law enforcement officers. They had trained together. When Floyd was killed, Kueng and Lane had just started their careers as Minneapolis police officers. As part of their field training that day, Kueng and Lane were with Chauvin. On May 3, 2020, a video of a Minneapolis arrest event showed Chauvin, Kueng, Lane, and a different officer roughing up a man on the ground as witnesses begged the cops to have mercy. 

Lane’s application to join the police force had parts of his criminal background hidden, including his 18-year-old convictions for property damage and obstruction of justice. Both Lane and Kueng were found guilty of violating Floyd’s civil rights.

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On May 25, 2020, Lane, held Floyd’s legs while Officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd’s neck with his knee for 9 and a 1/2 minutes. Black Floyd’s pleading that he couldn’t breathe in a bystander video spurred protests in Minneapolis and all over the world, forcing a reckoning over racial unfairness in policing.

When Lane pleaded guilty in state court in May, Gray said Lane hoped to avoid a long sentence. “He has a newborn baby and did not want to risk not being part of the child’s life,” he said. Lane also testified at trial that he didn’t realize how dire Floyd’s condition was until paramedics turned him over.

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Judge Paul Magnuson’s sentence was just slightly more than the 27 months that Lane’s attorney had requested, while prosecutors had asked for at least 63 months in prison — the low end of federal guidelines for the charge Lane was convicted on earlier this year. He said Lane, who faces sentencing in September on state charges in Floyd’s killing, will remain free on bond until he must turn himself in on Oct. 4. Magnuson also recommended that Lane serve his sentence at the federal prison in Duluth, about 2 1/2 hours from the Minneapolis area.