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One of the former Minneapolis cops charged in connection with George Floyd‘s 2020 death has now pleaded guilty to ‘aiding and abetting’ in his death.
J Alexander Kueng, 29, pleaded guilty on Monday to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, specifically saying he was ‘culpably negligent’ and ‘created an unreasonable risk’ when Floyd died on May 25, 2020.
His attorney, Thomas Plunkett, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune they had reached a negotiated settlement with prosecutors to dismiss a count of second-degree unintentional murder.
As part of the deal, ABC News reports, Plunkett agreed to recommend a sentence of just 42 months in prison, rather than an expected 12-and-a-half years if he was found guilty at the state trial.
Kueng will serve the 42 months concurrently with his federal sentence of three years in federal prison with two years of supervised release.
The guilty plea comes just moments before Kueng and his fellow officer Tou Thao, 36, were set to stand a state trial.
Thao has so far maintained his not guilty plea and is still expected to stand a state trial on Monday on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting manslaughter.
If found guilty, he could be sentenced to another 16 years in prison in addition to the three-and-a-half years he is serving in federal prison.
J Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty on Monday to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter moments before he was set to stand a state trial
Kueng, left, is pictured here with his attorney, Thomas Plunkett at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis in July 2020. Plunkett said on Monday that by pleading guilty to the aiding and abetting manslaughter charge, a count of second-degree unintentional murder was dismissed.
Tou Thao, 36, is still expected to stand state trial, with jury selection beginning on Monday
Kueng and his fellow officers, Thao and Thomas Lane, were previously found guilty of violating Floyd’s civil rights by not intervening when their senior officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on the back of Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed for more than nine minutes.
Prosecutors say Kueng helped Derek Chauvin, 46, hold Floyd to the ground — pinning Floyd’s back — while Thao kept bystanders from intervening.
Kueng and Thao have previously rejected another offer that Lane, 39, accepted to avoid state trial which also would have allowed him to serve his state sentence at the same time as his federal sentence.
He was sentenced in September to three years in prison, which he is serving concurrently with his federal sentence of two-and-a-half years.
Lane, who held Floyd’s legs and twice asked if he should be turned on his side, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years.
Kueng is accused of helping senior officer Derek Chauvin hold Floyd to the ground on May 25, 2020. He was a rookie officer at the time
Chauvin, now 46, knelt on the neck of George Floyd for over nine minutes as he lay dying on the street in May 2020
Kueng and his fellow officers Tou Thao and Thomas Lane were previously found guilty of violating Floyd’s civil rights by not intervening when Chauvin kneeled on the back of Floyd’s neck
Prosecutors say Floyd suffered critical injuries when he was placed in handcuffs and forced to the ground after being accused of attempting to use a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes.
Video taken by bystanders soon went viral showing Floyd begging for his life and complaining that he could not breathe while Chauvin held his knee on the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious.
Floyd, a black man, was then taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
His death sparked nationwide protests against police brutality, setting off a summer in which Black Lives Matter protesters marched through major cities and caused massive vandalism.
Chauvin was later convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
He was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison.
Chauvin then pleaded guilty in December to federal charges of violating Floyd’s civil rights and was sentenced in July to 21 years in federal prison.
During the trial, Lane, Keung and Thao each took the witness stand and attempted to shift the blame of Floyd’s death onto Chauvin.
Lane told the jury at the time that Chauvin ‘deflected’ all of his suggestions to help Floyd, while Keung testified that Chauvin ‘was my senior officer and I trusted his advice’ and Thao attested that he would ‘trust a 19-year veteran [of the Minneapolis police department] to figure it out.’
J Alexander Kueng (far left) and Tou Thao (second from right) are seen rejecting the plea deal
Jury selection in Thao’s state trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, and is expected tot take three weeks to complete.
Opening statements would then begin on November 7.
The trial was originally scheduled for June 2022, but Judge Peter Cahill delayed it over concerns it would be difficult to seat an impartial jury due to pretrial publicity following the federal trial.
He said at the time that postponing the trial would ‘diminish the impact of this publicity on the defendants’ right and ability to receive a fair trial from an impartial and unbiased jury.’
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