Derek Chauvin sentenced for violating George Floyd’s civil rights

A sketch from Derek Chauvin's sentencing in federal court on Thursday, July 7, 2022.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin appeared in a federal court today and was sentenced by senior US District Court Judge Paul Magnuson to 21 years in federal prison for depriving George Floyd of his civil rights.

Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd spoke in court, asking that Chauvin face the maximum consecutive sentence. “George’s life matters,” he said.

There were no cameras allowed in the federal courtroom, but here’s what the hearing looked like, according to a sketch artist:

After former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd said the biggest question he has for Chauvin is “why?”

Philonise Floyd hasn’t said anything to Chauvin, he said during a news conference on Thursday in Minneapolis.

Floyd said he wishes Chauvin would’ve at least said apologized for his actions, “but that’s not going to bring my brother back.”

Chauvin probably doesn’t even have a specific reason for his actions, Floyd said.

“I do think he knew what he was doing and he did it on purpose,” Floyd added.

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.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will serve 245 months in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights.

A federal judge in Minneapolis sentenced Chauvin to 252 months but subtracted seven months for time served.

Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to federal charges of depriving Floyd of his civil rights when the former officer kneeled on Floyd’s back and neck for more than nine minutes. As part of the plea agreement, Chauvin faced a sentence recommendation of between 20 and 25 years.

Chauvin, already jailed on state murder charges for his role in Floyd’s death, was sentenced in June 2021 to 22 and a half years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

The disgraced former officer’s plea bargain avoided a second federal trial and the possibility of life behind bars, if he had been convicted in US District Court.

Federal prosecutors asked the court for Chauvin’s sentence to run concurrently with his state charges.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin briefly addressed George Floyd’s children in court. In a short statement, Chauvin wished Floyd’s children all the best in their life.

Chauvin is being sentenced on federal charges. Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to federal charges of depriving Floyd of his civil rights when the former officer kneeled on Floyd’s back and neck for more than nine minutes.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s attorney Eric Nelson asked the court to sentence his client to 20 years in prison.  

“I would ask the court to sentence Mr. Chauvin to the 240 months,” Nelson said.

Nelson said Chauvin has demonstrated respect for the court, adding that he is not a risk for a repeat offense nor will he be a police officer anymore.

Philonise Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, gave an impassioned plea for Derek Chauvin to be given the maximum consecutive sentence during Chauvin’s federal sentencing hearing.

“My brother was murdered in broad daylight with a knee to his neck for nine minutes,” he said.

Speaking about Floyd’s daughter, Philonise said, “He will never be able to walk her down the aisle, take her to a daddy daughter dance.”

“George’s life matters,” he said.

The federal sentencing hearing of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is starting now in a US District Court.

Last month, prosecutors asked that the federal judge in Minneapolis sentence Chauvin to 25 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, followed by five years of supervised release.

Chauvin was sentenced in June 2021 to 22-and-a-half years on state charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the May 2020 killing of Floyd, an assault caught on a video that sparked a national outcry over police brutality and a reckoning over racial justice in America.

Under Minnesota law, Chauvin will have to serve two-thirds of his sentence, or 15 years —and he will be eligible for supervised release for the remaining seven and a half years. He has appealed his conviction.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin looks at bystanders as he kneels on George Floyd's neck on May 25, 2020.

Although former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has already been convicted in the murder of George Floyd, he’s set to be sentenced today on separate federal charges.

Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to federal charges of depriving Floyd of his civil rights when the former officer kneeled on Floyd’s back and neck for more than nine minutes. As part of the plea agreement, Chauvin faces a sentence recommendation of between 20 and 25 years. He could have faced up to life in prison if he had been convicted at trial.

Here’s a reminder of the 2020 case that spurred widespread protests against police brutality and racism:

Read more about today’s sentencing here.

George Floyd

The guilty plea to both federal charges represented the first time former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin had publicly admitted his role in George Floyd’s death after he had pleaded not guilty to the state murder charges and exercised his right not to testify at trial in April.

George Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd told CNN in February that it was a feeling of accountability.

“To me, this is big, because a blue wall fell, and it never falls,” he said. “It makes me feel better knowing that he is going be held accountable for what is going on.”

Other family members said they believed Chauvin pleaded guilty only because he had no other choice.

“I’m still feeling the same pain (and) anger I felt in the beginning, because he could have did this last year, started this on that day,” said Rodney Floyd, another one of Floyd’s brothers. “So today is the same pain.”

Terrence Floyd, another brother, said hearing the guilty plea “made me feel like, finally, you took accountability.”

“When he was pleading guilty, I know he knows why,” he said. “The fact still remains that he’s actually going to be in prison and he’s going to do time for what he did, so that’s good enough for me.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who led the state murder case against Chauvin, issued a statement on the importance of the guilty plea.

At the time, Chauvin was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly using unreasonable force against a 14-year-old boy in 2017.

Ellison also thanked the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota and the Department of Justice for bringing the case.

“George Floyd’s life mattered. That young man’s life matters. Nobody is above the law, and nobody is beneath it. While Floyd’s life is lost to his family and all of us, I hope Chauvin’s change of plea will mark a new beginning for equal justice under the law, respectful treatment for every person in our society, and greater trust in our system of justice,” Ellison said.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was indicted in May 2021 on federal civil rights charges related to George Floyd’s death.

The indictment also charged Chauvin and former officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane with deprivation of rights under color of law for allegedly failing to give Floyd medical aid, the indictment states. Thao and Kueng are also accused of failing to intervene in Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force, according to the federal indictment.

Bystander video showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds while the 46-year-old, handcuffed and lying prone in the street, gasped for air, telling the officers, “I can’t breathe.”

Chauvin later pleaded guilty to two counts connected to Floyd’s death, including depriving Floyd of his right to be free from “unreasonable seizure, which includes the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer.” As part of the plea agreement, he faced a sentence between 20 and 25 years.

In addition, Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to a federal case which is related to a similar incident in September 2017 in which Chauvin knelt on a 14-year-old in Minneapolis. According to the information, Chauvin held the teenager by the throat, struck him in the head with a flashlight and held his knee on the neck and upper back of the teenager even after the teen was lying prone, handcuffed and unresisting.

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that Chauvin plead guilty to information filed regarding the 14-year-old boy.

Federal prosecutors asked a federal judge in the District of Minnesota at the end of June to sentence former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to 25 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights. 

Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to depriving Floyd of his civil rights. As part of the plea agreement, he faces a sentence between 20 and 25 years. Prosecutors told the court in December they would be requesting a sentence of 25 years to be served concurrently with Chauvin’s sentence of 22 and a half years on state murder charges. He faced up to life in prison, if convicted of the federal charges. 

The US Attorney’s Office called the sentencing request, submitted on June 22, “reasonable and appropriate” given Chauvin’s offenses saying in the filing, “A 300-month sentence appropriately captures the seriousness of the defendant’s abuses and the lasting harms that he has inflicted on his victims, their families, and the larger community.” Prosecutors asked the 300-month sentence be followed by five years of supervised release.

Chauvin also pleaded guilty in December to a separate federal case in which he was accused of depriving the rights of a 14-year-old in Minneapolis in 2017 for allegedly kneeling on the back and neck of the handcuffed, non-resisting teenager.

The federal judge presiding over the case accepted Chauvin’s plea deal last month.

Some context: Chauvin’s guilty plea came nearly 18 months after the former officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds while the 46-year-old Black man, handcuffed and lying prone in the street, gasped for air and told Chauvin and other officers, “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020, sparked protests nationwide against police brutality and racial injustice.

In April last year, Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for Floyd’s death and was sentenced to 22 and a half years in state prison. 

Booking photo of Derek Chauvin released by the Minnesota Department of Corrections in April 2021.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, already jailed on state murder charges for his role in the death of George Floyd, will learn his federal sentence Thursday when he appears in a US District Court.

The hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. local time).

Last month, prosecutors asked a federal judge in Minneapolis to sentence Chauvin to 25 years in prison for violating Floyd’s civil rights, followed by five years of supervised release.

He was sentenced in June 2021 to 22-and-a-half years on state charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the May 2020 killing of Floyd, an assault caught on a video that sparked a national outcry over police brutality and a reckoning over racial justice in America.

The footage from a Minneapolis street showed Chauvin impassively kneeling on the 46-year-old Black man’s neck and back while he was handcuffed and lying prone in the street for more than 9 minutes, gasping for air and telling Minneapolis officers, “I can’t breathe.”

Under Minnesota law, Chauvin will have to serve two-thirds of his sentence, or 15 years – and he will be eligible for supervised release for the remaining seven and a half years. He has appealed his conviction.

More background: Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to federal charges of depriving Floyd of his civil rights when the former officer kneeled on Floyd’s back and neck for more than nine minutes. As part of the plea agreement, Chauvin faces a sentence recommendation of between 20 and 25 years. He could have faced up to life in prison if he had been convicted at trial.

According to a court document filed by his attorney in late June, Chauvin spends most of his life in solitary confinement at a maximum-security state prison. Attorney Eric Nelson asks in the document, titled “Defendant’s position regarding sentencing” to serve 20 years, minus time served in state prison, in a federal facility.

Prosecutors told the court in December they would request a federal sentence run at the same time as his state charges.

Three other former officers were found guilty by a federal jury in February of violating Floyd’s rights on May 25, 2020.

One man, Thomas Lane, has pleaded guilty to state charges. The trial of Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng is scheduled to begin in October.