Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights.
Senior US District Court Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Chauvin to 252 months but subtracted seven months for time served, and he will serve 245 months in federal prison.
Chauvin is already behind bars on state murder charges for his role in Floyd’s death. In that state case, he was sentenced in June 2021 to more than 22 years in prison on charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for his role in Floyd’s death. He has appealed his conviction.
US attorneys had asked the court for Chauvin’s sentence to run concurrently with his state sentence.
As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to federal charges of depriving Floyd of his civil rights. He could have faced up to life in prison if he had been convicted at trial.
Prosecutors had asked for a 25-year sentence in prison for violating Floyd’s civil rights, followed by five years of supervised release. His attorney had asked for 20 years.
The US Bureau of Prisons will decide what facility Chauvin will be housed in.
Sarah Greenman, an assistant criminology professor at Hamline University, said life in federal prison is considered to be better than at state facilities.
