The final Minneapolis police officer involved in the death of George Floyd has been sentenced to almost five years in prison, adding to his current incarceration time.
Tou Thao, the officer who held back bystanders during Floyd's fatal arrest in May 2020, was handed a 4.75-year sentence, or four years and nine months, on Monday by Hennepin County Judge Peter A. Cahill. It comes over a year after his conviction on Minnesota state charges.
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Thao was convicted last year on federal charges and is serving a 42-month prison sentence. Monday's jail sentence will run concurrently, instead of consecutively, with the federal sentence, so he already received credit for 340 days.
“Mr. Thao, to be perfectly honest, after three years of reflection, I was hoping for a little more remorse, regret, acknowledgment of some responsibility, and less preaching,” Cahill said in court on Monday. “Suffice it to say that I think your culpability is less than Mr. Chauvin, but well above Mr. Kueng and Mr. Lane, as an experienced senior officer who was in the best position to save George Floyd."
Cahill said that upon his release from federal prison, Thao will be transferred to the Minnesota Department of Corrections to serve the remainder of the state sentence.
Thao waived his right to a trial by jury in October 2022 for his state charges. Cahill found him guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter on May 8, 2023.
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The last state sentence of the officers marks the end of original prosecutions for those involved in Floyd's death. Former officer J. Alexander Kueng is serving 42 months in prison for manslaughter concurrently with his 36-month federal civil rights sentence. Former officer Thomas Lane is serving 36 months in prison for manslaughter concurrently with a 30-month federal sentence.
Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for several minutes, is serving 22.5 years on state charges concurrently with his 20-year sentence stemming from federal charges.