Minneapolis police officer convicted in George Floyd's death set for federal sentencing

(Reuters) - Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin will be sentenced later this week for violating the civil rights of George Floyd during the arrest that ended in Floyd's killing.

Chauvin, who has already been sentenced to 22-1/2 years in prison for intentional second-degree, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter by a state court, pleaded guilty to the federal civil rights charges in December.

After receiving reports that he was suspected of passing a counterfeit bill, officer Chauvin detained Floyd, a Black man, in May 2020 by kneeling on his neck as three other officers watched. The incident lead to Floyd's death and triggered a wave of massive protests across the nation and the world.

Federal prosecutors have called for Chauvin to face 25 years behind bars in the civil rights case, to be served concurrently with the state sentence. Defense attorneys have not made their sentencing documents public.

Late last month a Hennepin County, Minnesota, judge rescheduled the trial of two former Minneapolis police officers charged alongside Chauvin in the case.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Aurora Ellis)