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Earl GrayEarl Gray, Lane's attorney, had asked for a sentence of 27 months — slightly shorter than the three-year sentence Lane is facing after he pleaded guilty in May to a separate state charge of aiding and abetting manslaughter in Floyd's death, avoiding another trial.
Former Minneapolis Police officer Thomas Lane will serve his sentence in Englewood, Colorado.
In court on Wednesday, Judge Magnuson recommended both Kueng and Thao serve their sentences in a federal facility in either Duluth, Minnesota, or in Yankton, South Dakota.
Lane, a rookie officer on his fourth day on the job, held down Floyd's legs during the arrest, while Kueng restrained his torso and Thao stood nearby and held back a crowd of upset bystanders.
AmericanAlexander Kueng / Nationality
28 years (October 8, 1993)Alexander Kueng / Age
— The last two former Minneapolis police officers who were convicted of violating George Floyd's civil rights during his May 2020 killing were sentenced Wednesday in federal court to three and 3 1/2 years — penalties that a judge said reflected their level of culpability in a case that sparked worldwide protests as ...
— Thomas Lane, a former Minneapolis police officer who held down George Floyd's legs as he gasped for air while dying under the knee of another officer, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Thursday.
28 years (October 8, 1993)Alexander Kueng / Age
Kellie ChauvinDerek Chauvin / Wife (m. 2010–2021)
Thomas Kiernan Lane was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. He did not graduate from high school but he got his General Educational Development (GED) diploma and earned an associate degree from Century College, a two-year community and technical college in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. As a volunteer for nationally recognized Somali nonprofit organization Ka…
Thomas Lane practices primarily in the areas of natural resources, coal, oil and gas, commercial real estate, zoning and land development. This practice ranges from complex transactions of mineral property and companies to complex litigation of natural resource issues. He also engages in lobbying and government relations, particularly on issues affecting the mineral industry.
An owner of a land development company, Tom is involved in land development, construction and rental.
The 37-year-old rookie officer, Thomas Lane, is currently facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Gray has previously argued that Lane believed he was “doing what he thought was right” and had asked Chauvin to remove his knee from Floyd’s neck.
Some of the charges which were dismissed against Lane include unlawful assembly and disobeying police in 2001 and disorderly conduct in 2007.
Lane was fired after a video of Floyd’s death showed then-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the back of Floyd’s neck for seven minutes as Floyd — handcuffed —told him and other officers that he couldn’t breathe and eventually became unresponsive. Protests erupted around the country and the four police officers on ...
According to the complaint, Lane “took no actions to assist Mr. Floyd, to change his position, or to reduce the force the officers were using against Mr. Floyd.”
Lane’s bail was ultimately placed at $1 million (or $750,000 with conditions), according to the Star Tribune.
Lane and J. Alexander Kueng showed up to the scene and spoke to the employees who had called the police, who told them the man who “passed the counterfeit $20 bill was parked in a car around the corner,” according to the criminal complaint.
Kueng and Chauvin helped pull Floyd out of the car from the passenger side and Lane held Floyd’s legs once he was on the ground. Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck. The complaint against Lane describes the following exchange: