Derek Chauvin has just been sentenced to 21 years in prison for violating the civil rights of George Floyd in 2020 when Floyd died of a drug overdose while under the knee of Chauvin.
BREAKING (AP) — Federal judge sentences Derek Chauvin to 21 years for violating George Floyd's civil rights, extending prison time.
— Tom Harrington (@cbctom) July 7, 2022
Here’s more via Fox Carolina:
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, a move that adds a few years to the time the former Minneapolis police officer is already serving for his murder conviction while transferring him to federal custody.
U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson’s sentence came after Chauvin had agreed to a plea deal that called for a sentence ranging from 20 to 25 years. Federal prosecutors had sought the top end of that range, arguing that Chauvin, who is white, killed Floyd in cold blood when he pinned the Black man to the pavement outside a Minneapolis corner store on May 25, 2020, for more than 9 minutes as Floyd pleaded that he could not breathe.
Chauvin’s attorney had sought 20 years, arguing that Chauvin was remorseful.
During Thursday’s hearing, Chauvin told Floyd’s family that he “wishes all the best” for Floyd’s children. But Chauvin’s brief remarks included no direct apology or expression of remorse to Floyd’s family.
Chauvin is already serving a 22 1/2-year sentence on state charges of murder and manslaughter.
The plea deal called for Chauvin to serve the sentences at the same time and to be transferred from a Minnesota state prison to a federal prison, where experts say he likely will be safer and may be held under less restrictive conditions.
While this is an additional 21 years, as you can see from the article it will be served at the same time as his current 22 year sentence, adding only a few years to the overall time he’ll spend in prison.
And it sounds like the Reagan-appointee federal judge went on the lighter side of the plea deal, only giving Chauvin 21 years instead of 25, which was the maximum under the deal.
So I guess this means that even if Chauvin’s appeal of his hefty murder conviction were granted and the original sentence overturned (assuming he’s trying to make that happen), that he’d still be serving time for this separate sentence?