CNN
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A former Minneapolis police officer who assisted in the fatal restraint of George Floyd was sentenced Friday to 3½ years in prison for his role in the murder.
J. Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter on the day his state trial was scheduled to begin last October, accepting the plea in exchange for the state dropping the case. one count of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in May. The December 25, 2020 death that sparked international protests against police brutality.
Kueng appeared remotely from the US Bureau of Prisons facility at Elkton in Lisbon, Ohio, where he is serving a three-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights. He did not go to court.
“Nothing your honor, thank you,” he said when asked if he had any remarks.
There was no official victim impact statement.
“Alexander Kueng’s conviction for his role in the murder of George Floyd once again brings justice to the Floyd family,” attorneys Ben Crump, Antonio Romanucci and Jeff Storms, who represent Floyd’s family, said in a statement.
“As the family faces another holiday season without George, we hope that times like these will continue to bring them some peace, knowing that George’s death was not in vain.”
Heartbreaking video taken by a passerby showed Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, desperately pleading with the officers restraining him to let him breathe before he passed out and died.
Kueng was among four officers who were fired and criminally charged after Floyd’s death. The city of Minneapolis agreed last year to pay Floyd’s estate $27 million to settle a lawsuit with his family.
“I really can’t understand what George Floyd’s family and friends had to go through,” prosecutor Matthew Frank told the court before sentencing.
“It’s not just about watching a video of your loved one dying and seeing it on TV over and over again. Throughout these two and a half years, throughout all the legal proceedings, we often think of them and wish them the best as they heal and move forward.
Frank said Floyd was a “victim of a crime” and Kueng “wasn’t just a bystander to what happened that day.”
“Mr. Kueng played an active role in it,” he added.
Defense attorney Thomas Plunkett said police chiefs had “failed” both Floyd and Kueng by not properly training officers.
Kueng received credit for 84 days of service. He will be prohibited from owning firearms and ammunition for the rest of his life, Judge Peter Cahill has ruled.
His sentencing on Friday was delayed for several hours due to technical issues with web conferencing.
Kueng, who helped restrain Floyd as Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, and another officer, Tou Thao, who fended off angry witnesses pleading with police to leave Floyd, were both convicted of federal charges in the murder. They were found guilty of violating Floyd’s civil rights and failing to intervene to arrest Chauvin during detention.
Kueng was sentenced to three years and Thao was sentenced to 3.5 years. Keung will serve his state sentence concurrently with his federal sentence.
The two former cops began serving those sentences in October, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Chauvin was convicted of second-degree manslaughter, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in state court and was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison in June 2021.
In federal court, Chauvin pleaded guilty to disenfranchising Floyd and an unrelated civil rights violation was sentenced to 21 years in prison. He is serving his sentences simultaneously.
Thomas Lane, the The fourth officer, who held Floyd’s legs during the arrest, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter this summer and was sentenced to three years in prison in September. He is serving that sentence concurrently with a two-and-a-half-year federal sentence in Colorado.
Kueng was originally scheduled to stand trial in October along with Thao.
Thao, according to his attorney, Robert Paule, agreed to a trial by stipulated evidence, meaning he waived his right to a jury trial and the court would decide Thao’s fate after reviewing the evidence presented by the two parts.
