Federal prosecutors to appeal sentences of former Minneapolis officers Kueng and Thao
From left, former officer J Alexander Kueng and former officer Tou Thao.
Federal prosecutors have filed appeals to the sentences of two former police officers convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights.
Notices of appeals were filed Wednesday against J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao. The two were convicted in February of violating Floyd’s rights and willfully failing to try to stop former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin from using unreasonable force on Floyd.
In July, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Kueng to 36 months and Thao to 42 months in federal prison.
Prosecutors had originally sought a sentence that was less than co-defendant Derek Chauvin’s 21-year federal prison sentence and substantially more than the two and a half years doled out to former officer Thomas Lane.
In a ruling the week before Thao and Kueng’s sentencings, Magnuson stated he would opt to use the crime of involuntary manslaughter, rather than murder, as the basis for calculating the ex-officers’ sentences.
It is not yet known what sentence prosecutors are hoping to pursue.