Ex-MPD officer Lane finishes federal sentence, awaiting move to state custody

One of the former Minneapolis police officers convicted for his role in the murder of George Floyd has finished serving his federal sentence and is now awaiting a move back to state custody to serve the rest of his state punishment.

Thomas Lane, now 41, was ordered in July 2022 to spend 30 months in federal prison for violating Floyd’s civil rights.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that Lane’s federal sentence ended on Feb. 26.

While he’s done with that sentence, he remains in a federal prison in Colorado as he awaits transfer to the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC), where he’ll have to serve the rest of his state sentence.

He was sentenced to three years in prison for aiding manslaughter in September 2022 and DOC lists his anticipated release date as Aug. 20 of this year. He’ll still be on supervised release when it ends.

Lane was one of three officers charged with failing to intervene when fellow former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for around nine minutes. Chauvin is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison while the others are still serving three-year sentences.

Lane is on track to be the first of the ex-officers to be released from prison.