Thomas Lane Gets 3 Years in Prison for Pinning George Floyd’s Legs Down
LOCKED UP
Former Minneapolis cop Thomas Lane was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday for his role in the murder of George Floyd. Lane pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter after he held down Floyd’s legs while Derek Chauvin knelt on the Black man’s neck for more than nine minutes on May 25, 2020. Lane was spared an additional charge of second-degree murder as a part of a plea deal. Two other cops involved in Floyd’s arrest—J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao— rejected a plea deal and are scheduled to stand trial on Oct. 24. Lane was previously sentenced to 2.5 years for violating Floyd’s federal civil rights by denying him medical care. Federal prosecutors wanted six years but Lane’s attorney argued that Lane was the least culpable of the officers at the scene because he twice suggested that Floyd should be turned on his side, though that never happened.