*Former Minneapolis officers J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, two of the four men convicted of violating George Floyd‘s rights, have been sentenced for their role in his death. According to @apnews, J. Alexander Kueng was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in the murder, and Tou Thao was sentenced to 3 1/2 years.
They were convicted for violating George Floyd’s civil rights back in February along with Derek Chauvin and Thomas Lane, who already received their sentences for the violation.
The jury found that Kueng and Thao failed to stop Chauvin from having his knee on George Floyd’s neck, and also deprived Floyd of medical assistance during the fatal incident.
As Chauvin held George Floyd down by his neck, Kueng held Floyd’s back and Thao kept bystanders from interfering during the May 2020 incident.
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With the sentences, all four of the officers who helped restrain Floyd in May 2020 have now been sentenced to prison time, CNN reports.
Thomas Lane, who held down Floyd’s legs, was convicted of one federal charge and sentenced last week to 2.5 years in prison, as Judge Paul A. Magnuson cited Lane’s “minimal role” in the incident. Chauvin, the primary aggressor, pleaded guilty to violating Floyd’s civil rights and of an unrelated civil rights violation and was sentenced to 21 years in prison to be served concurrently with his 22.5-year sentence on state murder charges.
Federal prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Kueng, 28, and Thao, 36, to “significantly more” time than the range applicable to Lane but less time than Chauvin’s sentence. Thao’s defense team asked for a sentence of 2 years, while Kueng’s defense team filed its recommendation under seal.
Kueng declined to make a statement in court. Thao, though, made a lengthy statement to the court, quoting numerous Bible verses and describing how he was “born again” after being jailed.
Courteney Ross, Floyd’s girlfriend, addressed both former officers in court.
“I will never forget you speaking to the onlookers when you said, ‘This is why you don’t do drugs,’” she said to Thao. “No one deserves to be treated as less. That’s not how Floyd treated others.”
Both Kueng and Thao also will be ordered to pay a $200 special assessment and will placed on supervised release for 2 years after serving their prison terms.
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