MINNEAPOLIS — Ex-Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane pled guilty Wednesday to aiding and abetting manslaughter in the murder of George Floyd two years ago on a south Minneapolis street, avoiding another trial next month in Hennepin County District Court.
Lane entered the plea in front of Judge Peter Cahill early Wednesday in the same courtroom where Derek Chauvin was convicted of Floyd's murder a year ago. A count of aiding and abetting second-degree murder was dismissed. In exchange for the plea, Lane agreed to a sentence of three years, to be served concurrently with his federal sentence for violating Floyd's civil rights. That sentence has yet to be handed down. Sentencing for the manslaughter count is scheduled for Sept. 21.
Ex-officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng remain scheduled to face trial next month on state charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd's death.
