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Thomas Lane, former cop convicted in George Floyd’s death, released from prison

Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on August 21, 2024

(NEW YORK) — A former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the death of George Floyd was released from prison Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to ABC News.

Thomas Lane, 41, pleaded guilty in May 2022 to state charges of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss charges against him for aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder.

He was sentenced to three years in prison for the state charges.

Previously, in February 2022, a federal jury convicted Lane — as well as two other former officers — for violating Floyd’s civil rights when they failed to intervene in his murder in May 2020.

He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for the federal charges.

Lane served the two sentences concurrently at FCI Englewood in Colorado. His sentence on federal charges expired earlier this year, according to a Bureau of Prisons spokesperson, while his sentence on state charges ended Tuesday.

Lane will spend the next year on supervised release, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Corrections told ABC News.

Derek Chauvin — the officer who kneeled on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, killing him — was convicted on murder charges and sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison.

In a move unrelated to Lane, Chauvin was moved to a federal prison in Big Springs, Texas, on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the situation. Chauvin was stabbed at a federal prison in Phoenix last November.

In the wake of Floyd’s murder, protests against racial injustice and police brutality broke out across the U.S. and even internationally, drawing millions.

“Thomas Lane served his time and paid his debt to society. I wish him well in his re-entry into his community,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement to Duluth ABC affiliate WDIO-TV.