MINNEAPOLIS — Ex-Minneapolis police Officer Thomas Lane pleaded guilty Wednesday to aiding and abetting manslaughter in the murder of George Floyd two years ago on a south Minneapolis street, avoiding a trial next month in Hennepin County District Court.
Lane, 39, entered the plea in a five-minute court session with Judge Peter Cahill in the same room where Derek Chauvin was convicted of Floyd's murder a year ago.
In exchange for the guilty plea, a count of aiding and abetting second-degree murder was dismissed and Lane agreed to a sentence of three years. He's expected to serve the state sentence in a federal prison concurrently with his sentence for a conviction earlier this year of violating Floyd's civil rights. He has yet to be sentenced for either conviction.
