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Thomas Lane in custody in the US state of Colorado
Photo: AP
The George Floyd case made headlines and protests across the country more than two years ago.
And the legal processing of the killing of the African American in a police operation is still ongoing.
Now one of the ex-police officers involved has been convicted again.
Thomas Lane pleaded guilty in court under Minnesota law to assisting manslaughter in a particularly aggravated case and received a three-year prison sentence, US media reported unanimously on Wednesday.
Lane is already serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence based on a federal conviction for violating Floyd's civil rights.
Both sentences could be served at the same time, it said.
The death of African American Floyd on May 25, 2020 in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis triggered demonstrations against racism and police violence in the United States.
Videos documented police officers pinning the unarmed man to the ground.
White police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for a good nine minutes while Floyd begged him to breathe.
His colleagues Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane did not intervene despite Chauvin's actions.
According to the autopsy, Floyd lost consciousness – and died.
Decades in prison for the main offender
Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison for murder by a Minneapolis court.
He's already serving that sentence.
In July, a federal court sentenced the 46-year-old to a further 21 years in prison.
In February of this year, Lane and his colleagues who were also involved at the time were found guilty in federal court in St. Paul of violating Floyd's constitutional civil rights.
The former police officers were accused of not providing medical assistance.
Kueng and Thao were also found guilty of failing to try to stop Chauvin's use of violence.
jok/dpa
