Thomas Lane, the first of four Minneapolis, Minn., police officers who were convicted for their roles in the killing of George Floyd, has been released from prison, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Lane, 41, was released from federal prison on Tuesday, Aug. 20, according to online federal inmate records. A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons also confirmed Lane’s release to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Aug. 21.
Lane was the first officer to be convicted on a federal charge of violating Floyd’s civil rights by showing deliberate indifference to his medical needs and failing to provide aid as Derek Chauvin, the senior officer on the scene, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, killing him on May 25, 2020.
Lane and two other ex-officers — Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng — watched as 46-year-old Floyd struggled to breathe and repeatedly indicated his distress. Viral video of Floyd’s killing sparked the nation’s largest civil rights protests in decades and led to increased awareness about police brutality and racial injustice in the U.S.
All three testified on their own behalf and said they took their cues from Chauvin, who was fired a day after the killing and was later convicted in the murder of Floyd. Floyd had been detained by the four officers for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill at a corner Minneapolis market.
George Floyd mural.
Stephanie Keith/Getty
Lane was sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison in July 2022, as previously reported. He was later sentenced to three years in state prison after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, CNN reported. According to the outlet, which cites the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Lane served his time at the Englewood Federal Correctional Facility in Littleton, Colo., just outside Denver.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Corrections said in an email to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Aug. 21 that Lane’s federal and state sentences ran concurrently, adding that he completed his federal sentence earlier this year.
The spokesperson also confirmed that Lane was released on Tuesday, Aug. 20 from “the incarceration period of his Minnesota sentence” and must serve one year of supervised release.
“In Minnesota, you serve 2/3 of your time incarcerated and the rest of the time on supervised release,” the spokesperson wrote. “His approved release plan transfers supervision to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections through an interstate agreement. The expiration of Lane’s sentence is 8/20/2025.”
In June 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in state prison — or 270 months after being convicted of state charges of murder and manslaughter in connection with Floyd’s killing. He later pleaded guilty to a federal charge of violating Floyd’s civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years behind bars. His sentences are running concurrently.
Derek Chauvin.
Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office via Getty
In November 2023, Chauvin survived a stabbing at the hands of another inmate while being held in an Arizona federal prison, as previously reported. He was transferred on Tuesday to a federal prison in Texas, the Associated Press reported, citing federal prison officials.
As for Thao and Kueng, they were ordered in July 2022 to serve 42 months and 36 months in federal prison, respectively, the United States Department of Justice previously said. They, like Lane, were convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights.
