Why Derek Chauvin's Sentencing Moves Him From State to Federal Prison

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 21 years in prison on Thursday for violating George Floyd's civil rights, and the new sentencing will move Chauvin from state prison to federal prison.

Chauvin's legal team accepted a plea deal that allowed him to serve the 21-year sentence concurrent with the sentence he received in December after pleading guilty on state charges for murder in Floyd's death, according to the Associated Press.

The plea deal also sought to transfer Chauvin from Minnesota state prison to federal prison, the AP reported.

The sentencing on Thursday came several months after Chauvin began serving his 22.5-year term in Minnesota for Floyd's death. Chauvin was charged in Floyd's death after he was accused of kneeling on his neck for several minutes in 2020.

The judge on Thursday also announced that Chauvin would receive credit for the seven months in prison he has already served, which means his prison sentence will last just over 20 years, Gordon Severson of KARE reported.

Prior to the sentencing on Thursday, prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson for Chauvin to serve 25 years in prison, while the former cop's attorney, Eric Nelson, said that his client should serve 20 years in prison.

During the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Magnuson criticized Chauvin's past actions and said, "Your conduct is wrong and it is offensive."

"I really don't know why you did what you did....To put your knee on a person's neck until they expired is simply wrong," the judge added.

Chauvin also spoke toward Floyd's children during the hearing and told them he wishes "all the best in their life."

While speaking with CNN on Thursday, Hamline University assistant criminology professor Sarah Greenman described the differences between a state prison and federal prison, following Chauvin's move to the latter.

"It's less crowded in federal prison, there's less safety concerns than in a state facility," Greenman said.

The Shouse Law Group in California also described federal prisons as "generally safer than state prisons and they keep inmates that are of a less violent and dangerous nature."

In a statement following Chauvin's sentencing, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said, "Derek Chauvin's substantial federal sentence of 245 months for depriving George Floyd and Jonathan Pope of their civil rights is another step of accountability on the road to justice. Today my thoughts are with the victims of these crimes, as they always are."

Ellison continued, "Federal prosecutors took this case because it was not a typical crime: it was an intentional deprivation of life and liberty that is criminal under federal law, so it was appropriate and right that they stepped in. In obtaining this conviction and sentence, they sent a message to Minnesotans, all Americans, and law-enforcement agencies around the country that crime like this will not be tolerated and that we must do better."