Two former Minneapolis cops sentenced for violating George Floyd's civil rights

July 27 (UPI) -- Two former Minneapolis police officers were sentenced to federal prison Wednesday for violating George Floyd's civil rights the day he was killed by a fellow officer.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced J. Alexander Keung to three years and Tou Thao to three-and-a-half years in back-to-back hearings in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday. Both men's sentences will be followed by two years of supervised release.

Keung, 28, and Thao, 35, were found guilty in February of depriving Floyd of his civil rights by failing to give him medical aid and not intervening as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for more than 9 minutes in the May 25, 2020 killing.

The Justice Department states that violating a person's civil rights is "punishable by a range of imprisonment up to a life term, or the death penalty, depending upon the circumstances of the crime and the resulting injury, if any."

Former officer Thomas Lane, 39, was also found guilty of violating Floyd's civil rights and was sentenced last week to 30 months in prison.

A federal judge sentenced Chauvin earlier this month to more than 20 years in prison for violating Floyd's civil rights when he killed him. Chauvin is already serving a 22-and-a-half-year sentence on state murder charges for Floyd's death.

Kueng, who was a rookie officer at the time, helped restrain Floyd as Chauvin kneeled on his neck until he suffocated. The death of the 46-year-old Black man ignited protests against systemic racism around the world.

Keung did not speak during Wednesday's sentencing hearing, but his attorney, Thomas Plunkett, spoke on his behalf.

"He's a nice young man that attempted to help the community by taking on a difficult role... and now he's being sentenced for that," Plunkett said.

Thao, a father of three, spoke for 20 minutes and said he had learned to lean on his faith, while he also criticized the investigation and trial.

"Throughout this two year journey, I've never seen so much corruption in this case," Thao told the court. "I thought this was Hollywood."

Floyd's girlfriend, Courtney Ross, gave a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearings and offered words of encouragement to Keung.

"This does not mean you cannot find your footing to stand up for what's right in the future," Ross said.

When it came time to give her statement for Thao's sentencing, Ross blasted him as she referenced video played at his trial.

"Mr. Thao, as you watched my love being suffocated under the knee of your co-officer, I will never forget you saying to the onlookers, 'This is why you don't do drugs,'" Ross told Thao.

Keung and Thao still face state charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in a trial set for late October. They have both pleaded not guilty.