A police officer charged in the murder of George Floyd is done with prison time
Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, left, arrives with his attorney Earl Gray at the Hennepin County Family Justice Center Sept. 11, 2020, for a hearing in the cases against the four former police officers charged in the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis.
Anthony Souffle | Star Tribune via AP, File
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One of the former Minneapolis police officers convicted in the 2020 killing of George Floyd walked out of a Colorado prison early Tuesday.
Thomas Lane, who received the shortest sentence of the four ex-officers involved in Floyd’s death, is the first to leave custody. MPR News correspondent Matt Sepic joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer with the details.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: And as I mentioned at the top of the program, Thomas Lane, a former Minneapolis Police officer, walked out of a Colorado prison earlier today. He received the shortest sentence of the four ex-officers involved in George Floyd's death. He's the first to leave custody. Our Matt Sepic joins us to talk about some details. Thanks for joining us, Matt.
MATT SEPIC: Hi, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Hey, first off, remind us about the charges that Thomas Lane was convicted of.
MATT SEPIC: Well, in early 2022, a federal jury found Lane guilty of violating George Floyd's civil rights for ignoring his medical needs as former officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. And later that year, Lane pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. And as many of us will recall, Lane can be seen on video holding Floyd's legs as Chauvin and another officer, former officer, I should say, J. Alexander Kueng restrained the 46-year-old Black man. A fourth ex-officer, Tou Thao, kept back a group of onlookers who were pleading with the officers to let up on Floyd.
Lane asked Chauvin twice whether they should reposition Floyd so he could breathe. But Chauvin rebuffed those suggestions from Lane, who was a rookie in just his fourth day on the job, when he initially confronted Floyd over allegations that he may have used a phony $20 bill at Cup Foods, that corner store at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue.
CATHY WURZER: Why was Thomas Lane the first to be released?
MATT SEPIC: Well, as you said, he received the least amount of prison time of the four officers and is finished serving it. Judge Paul Magnuson, who presided over the federal trial, gave Lane 30 months. And Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, who oversaw the state trials and state cases, sentenced the former officer to three years. Lane served those sentences concurrently in a low-security federal lockup in Colorado.
At Lane's state sentencing hearing back in 2022, then Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Matthew Frank, who was one of the prosecutors, said Lane deserved a shorter sentence than the other ex-officers because he played a, quote, "somewhat less culpable role in Floyd's death." And there were moments when Lane tried to change what was going on that day.
Lane's federal term wound up in February. And the prison portion of his state sentence concluded today. Now, the Minnesota Department of Corrections contracted with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to have Lane finish out his state term in the federal pen. Under Minnesota law, most offenders serve the first 2/3 of their sentences in prison, with the rest on supervised release. So Lane will spend the next year on supervised release, and he'll be supervised by Wisconsin.
On the federal side, inmates are often eligible to receive a 15% reduction in prison time for good behavior. It's known as the good time credit.
CATHY WURZER: So he's going to be supervised by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, but is he coming back home to Minnesota today?
MATT SEPIC: That's unclear. The DOC keeps these kinds of things fairly quiet, primarily for the safety and security of the person being released. We've seen this before with the release of former officer Kim Potter from prison. A Department of Corrections spokesperson tells us that the Minnesota DOC is bringing lane back to Minnesota for his release. But it will be, as I said, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections that will supervise him through an interstate agreement. That's all they've told us. They would not provide any other details about his supervision and where he'll be living and that sort of thing.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, OK. So the other officers involved in Floyd's death, when will they be released?
MATT SEPIC: Well, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, J. Alexander Keung and Tou Thao are set to get out of federal prison in April of next year, April 2025. Chauvin, of course, got the longest sentence. He's serving 22.5 years on his state conviction, concurrent with a roughly 20-year federal term on the civil rights charges. He's not expected to be released until 2038. And he started serving his sentence at a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, but records show just recently he was moved to a transfer facility, a Federal Bureau of Prisons transfer facility in Oklahoma. The Prison Bureau has not said why it moved him.
As we have reported over the last few months, the 48-year-old former officer was seriously injured back in November when a fellow inmate-- this was just after Thanksgiving-- allegedly stabbed him 22 times in a prison law library. And that other inmate, John Turscak, he's 53 years old, a former gang member from California. He's pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and attempted murder. And I'm continuing to track that federal case as well.
CATHY WURZER: All right, Matt, you are busy. Thank you for the background. We appreciate it.
MATT SEPIC: Sure. You're welcome.
MATT SEPIC: Hi, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: Hey, first off, remind us about the charges that Thomas Lane was convicted of.
MATT SEPIC: Well, in early 2022, a federal jury found Lane guilty of violating George Floyd's civil rights for ignoring his medical needs as former officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. And later that year, Lane pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. And as many of us will recall, Lane can be seen on video holding Floyd's legs as Chauvin and another officer, former officer, I should say, J. Alexander Kueng restrained the 46-year-old Black man. A fourth ex-officer, Tou Thao, kept back a group of onlookers who were pleading with the officers to let up on Floyd.
Lane asked Chauvin twice whether they should reposition Floyd so he could breathe. But Chauvin rebuffed those suggestions from Lane, who was a rookie in just his fourth day on the job, when he initially confronted Floyd over allegations that he may have used a phony $20 bill at Cup Foods, that corner store at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue.
CATHY WURZER: Why was Thomas Lane the first to be released?
MATT SEPIC: Well, as you said, he received the least amount of prison time of the four officers and is finished serving it. Judge Paul Magnuson, who presided over the federal trial, gave Lane 30 months. And Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, who oversaw the state trials and state cases, sentenced the former officer to three years. Lane served those sentences concurrently in a low-security federal lockup in Colorado.
At Lane's state sentencing hearing back in 2022, then Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Matthew Frank, who was one of the prosecutors, said Lane deserved a shorter sentence than the other ex-officers because he played a, quote, "somewhat less culpable role in Floyd's death." And there were moments when Lane tried to change what was going on that day.
Lane's federal term wound up in February. And the prison portion of his state sentence concluded today. Now, the Minnesota Department of Corrections contracted with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to have Lane finish out his state term in the federal pen. Under Minnesota law, most offenders serve the first 2/3 of their sentences in prison, with the rest on supervised release. So Lane will spend the next year on supervised release, and he'll be supervised by Wisconsin.
On the federal side, inmates are often eligible to receive a 15% reduction in prison time for good behavior. It's known as the good time credit.
CATHY WURZER: So he's going to be supervised by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, but is he coming back home to Minnesota today?
MATT SEPIC: That's unclear. The DOC keeps these kinds of things fairly quiet, primarily for the safety and security of the person being released. We've seen this before with the release of former officer Kim Potter from prison. A Department of Corrections spokesperson tells us that the Minnesota DOC is bringing lane back to Minnesota for his release. But it will be, as I said, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections that will supervise him through an interstate agreement. That's all they've told us. They would not provide any other details about his supervision and where he'll be living and that sort of thing.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, OK. So the other officers involved in Floyd's death, when will they be released?
MATT SEPIC: Well, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, J. Alexander Keung and Tou Thao are set to get out of federal prison in April of next year, April 2025. Chauvin, of course, got the longest sentence. He's serving 22.5 years on his state conviction, concurrent with a roughly 20-year federal term on the civil rights charges. He's not expected to be released until 2038. And he started serving his sentence at a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, but records show just recently he was moved to a transfer facility, a Federal Bureau of Prisons transfer facility in Oklahoma. The Prison Bureau has not said why it moved him.
As we have reported over the last few months, the 48-year-old former officer was seriously injured back in November when a fellow inmate-- this was just after Thanksgiving-- allegedly stabbed him 22 times in a prison law library. And that other inmate, John Turscak, he's 53 years old, a former gang member from California. He's pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and attempted murder. And I'm continuing to track that federal case as well.
CATHY WURZER: All right, Matt, you are busy. Thank you for the background. We appreciate it.
MATT SEPIC: Sure. You're welcome.
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