MINNEAPOLIS – A pair of former Minneapolis police officers rejected plea agreements Monday that would have given them three-year prison sentences for their role in George Floyd’s death, reported the Washington Examiner.
After turning down the plea deals, the two former police officers, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, are now slated to stand trial in October for the state charges pertaining to the death of Floyd. Both men have already faced sentencing for the federal charges levied against them over Floyd’s death. Kueng received 36 months while Thao received 42 months in custody, according to the Examiner.
“It would be lying for me to accept any plea offer,” Thou explained, reported The Hill.
Kueng declined to say why he rejected the plea offer and take the case to trial.
Both men are charged in state court with aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and second-degree murder connected to Floyd’s death.
Earlier this year former officer Thomas Lane pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to aiding and abetting manslaughter in Floyd’s death, Law Officer reported in May. His state sentence will run concurrent with his federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights, which is 30 months in prison.
Under federal guidelines, this sentence will result in two years of incarceration, assuming good behavior.
