A former Minneapolis police officer who pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the killing of George Floyd was sentenced on Wednesday to three years. Thomas Lane is already serving a two-and-a-half-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights. In the state case, prosecutors and Lane’s attorneys agreed to a recommended sentence of three years, to be served at the same time, in a federal prison. The Wednesday sentencing hearing was held remotely. Lane appeared from the Federal correctional institution Englewood, a low-security federal prison camp in Littleton, Colorado. Floyd, 46, died in May 2020 after Derek Chauvin, who is white, pinned him to the ground with a knee on Floyd’s neck as the Black man repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. Lane, who is white, held down Floyd’s legs. J Alexander Kueng, who is Black, knelt on Floyd’s back and Tou Thao, who is Hmong American, kept bystanders from intervening during the nine-and-a-half-minute restraint. Captured on bystander video, the killing sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the world as part of a reckoning over racial injustice. Last year, Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter and given a state sentence of more than 22 years. He also pleaded guilty to a federal count of violating Floyd’s civil rights. His state and federal sentences are being served at the same time. Kueng and Thao were convicted on federal civil rights charges and sentenced to three and three and a half years respectively. They have not yet reported to federal prison and are scheduled to go to trial on state charges of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter in October. When Lane pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, he admitted that he intentionally helped restrain Floyd in a way that created an unreasonable risk and caused his death. As part of the plea agreement, a more serious count of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder was dismissed. In his plea agreement, Lane admitted that he knew from his training that restraining Floyd in that way created a serious risk of death, and that he heard Floyd say he couldn’t breathe, knew Floyd fell silent, had no pulse and appeared to have lost consciousness. The plea agreement says Lane knew Floyd should have been rolled on to his side – and evidence shows he asked twice if that should be done – but he continued to assist in the restraint despite the risk. Lane agreed the restraint was “unreasonable under the circumstances and constituted an unlawful use of force”.