A former Minneapolis police officer who was found guilty on federal charges of violating the civil rights of George Floyd was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison and two years of supervised release.
J. Alexander Kueng was sentenced in the first of back-to-back hearings, with sentencing for his fellow former officer Tou Thao to follow.
Kueng and Thao were convicted in February of depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority when they failed to give him medical aid, and also of not intervening to stop their fellow officer Derek Chauvin from using excessive force.
Last week, a federal judge ruled that guidelines for Kueng and Thao’s sentences would be calculated in a way that would reduce their potential prison time. The two headed into Wednesday’s hearing with a recommended sentencing range of 4 1/4 years to 5 1/4 years.
Kueng and Thao still face state charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, in a trial set for late October.
On May 25, 2020, Kueng, Thao, Chauvin and former Minneapolis police Officer Thomas Lane had responded to a call about a counterfeit bill from a convenience store in Minneapolis’ Powderhorn Park neighborhood when they encountered Floyd, 46.
Lane and Kueng, both rookie officers and partners on the call, were on top of Floyd, a Black man, as Chauvin applied deadly pressure to Floyd’s neck and he gasped for air. Thao had been in charge of crowd control. Floyd‘s death spurred protests against systemic racism around the world.
Kueng did not speak during the hearing. His attorney, Thomas Plunkett, asked U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson to consider that Kueng, the youngest officer to respond that day, had been poorly training by the police department and was following Chauvin’s orders.
Before handing down the sentence, Magnuson said Kueng should have known that anyone under his custody and control should be protected from undue harm.
Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to violating Floyd’s rights and was sentenced July 7 to just more more than 20 years in federal prison. That sentence will run concurrently with the 22½-year sentence he is serving after being found guilty of second- and third-degree murder, as well as second-degree manslaughter, in a state case.
Lane was sentenced July 21 to 2 1/2 years in prison on a federal civil rights charge for his role in Floyd’s death. He has pleaded guilty on state charges and faces a hearing in September on those charges.
This is a developing story, please check back here for updates.
Associated Press contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
