Ex-Minnesota cop Derek Chauvin learns sentence Friday for killing George Floyd

Former police officer Derek Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison when he’s sentenced for killing George Floyd in Minneapolis a year ago. Photos courtesy Minnesota Department of Corrections

June 25 (UPI) — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will learn his punishment on Friday for killing George Floyd during an arrest more than a year ago. He faces up to 40 years in prison.

Chauvin was convicted in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for kneeling on the back of a subdued Floyd’s neck for almost 10 minutes on May 25, 2020. The incident was recorded on video by witnesses and the footage was seen worldwide. Floyd repeatedly told Chauvin that he couldn’t breathe.

The former officer is scheduled to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. CDT at the Hennepin County Government Center. Before his sentence is read, he will have the opportunity to speak and members of Floyd’s family will give victim impact statements.

Prosecutors have recommended 30 years in prison for Chauvin for killing Floyd, a death that touched off months of outrage and demonstrations in Minneapolis and across the United States to call attention to police brutality. Chauvin’s attorney says he should receive either probation or a lesser sentence.

Sentencing guidelines call for a minimum of 150 months, or 12.5 years, for second-degree murder alone. Aggravating factors, however, and the other charges mean Chauvin faces up to 40 years behind bars.

Judge Peter Cahill, who will deliver the sentencing, said that four out of five aggravating factors brought forth by prosecutors were proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The aggravating factors are that Chauvin abused his authority, that he treated Floyd with particular cruelty, that children were present during the offense and that Chauvin committed the crime as a group. Three other officers were involved in Floyd’s arrest.

Those officers, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, will stand trial in March. They are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death.

Kueng and Lane helped restrain Floyd, and Kueng knelt on his back while Lane held his legs down. Thao held back bystanders and kept them from intervening.

One legal expert told WCCO-TV that he expects Chauvin to receive at least 25 years in prison.