ST. PAUL, Minn. (Washington Insider Magazine) – Derek Chauvin’s plea deal was approved by the court supervising the federal civil rights proceedings of 4 ex Minneapolis law enforcement officials in the killing of George Floyd on Wednesday, and he will be sentenced to 20 to 25 years in prison.
Chauvin pled guilty to breaching Floyd’s civil rights on December 15, acknowledging for the first time that he placed his knee on Floyd’s neck after he went unresponsive, resulting in Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020. Floyd’s right to be free from unlawful seizure, including undue force by a policeman, was wilfully deprived by the white former officer, according to ABC NEWS.
Both parties agreed that Chauvin would face a term ranging from 20 to 25 years under the plea bargain, with prosecution stating that they will seek 25. On the federal charge, he could have faced life in jail. With credit for good behavior in the federal system, he’d be sentenced to 17 to 21 years and 3 months in prison.
Judge Paul Magnuson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia suspended acceptance of the deal awaiting the outcome of a presentence inquiry. He said the report had been produced, thus it was now proper to accept the arrangement in a one-page ruling released Wednesday. He has not set the date for Chauvin’s sentence.
Chauvin is already carrying a 22 1/2-year term for a murder conviction he received in state court last year, which he is challenging. He would serve both the federal and state sentences simultaneously.
Chauvin will almost certainly serve more time in jail under the federal plea agreement than he would have served under his state punishment. In Minnesota, state convicts normally serve one-third of their term on parole, which would imply 15 years in jail for him.
If Magnuson approved the plea deal, Chauvin forfeited his right to appeal his federal conviction.
Three other former policemen were convicted of similar federal civil rights counts in February, but Magnuson has yet to set a sentencing date for them. J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao, and Thomas Lane’s presentence investigations are currently ongoing. They’ll stand trial in state court next month on allegations of aiding and abetting Chauvin in Floyd’s killing.
At a preliminary hearing last month, prosecution revealed that the 3 had turned down plea deals on the state counts. The terms of the agreement were not revealed. Earl Gray, Lane’s attorney, said it was difficult for the defense to bargain because the three had yet to learn what their federal punishments would be.
Gray’s applications for a venue change and a postponement of the hearing until after the federal verdicts, or potentially until next year, were revived on Wednesday. Because of the defendants’ “public hatred,” he concluded, it’s “abundantly clear” from surveys answered by potential jurors that a fair and unbiased jury for the case can never be convened in Hennepin County, which encompasses Minneapolis.
