Former MPD officer J. Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting manslaughter for his involvement in George Floyd’s murder. 

Kueng was charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter alongisde former MPD officer Tou Thao. As part of the plea agreement, Kueng will serve 3 ½ years in federal prison in exchange for the state dropping his murder charge, according to a release from Attorney General Keith Ellison. 

Thao, Kueng and the third former officer Thomas Lane were convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights in a federal trial in February and reported to federal prison on Oct. 4. Kueng received a 3-year sentence, Thao received a 3 ½-year sentence and Lane received a 3-year sentence. Kueng will serve his state sentence in federal prison concurrently with his federal sentence. 

In his plea deal, Kueng said he heard Floyd say he couldn’t breathe and should have been aware of the risks of “positional asphyxia,” NPR reported. Kueng said MPD’s restraint of Floyd was “unreasonable under the circumstances.”

If convicted of his state charges, Kueng was facing more than 12 years in prison, according to Hennepin County District Court documents. The agreement comes roughly two months after Kueng and Thao rejected a plea deal, which contained a three-year sentence. 

Kueng held Floyd’s torso to the ground as former MPD officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes, killing him. Thao held back bystanders who were filming the officers and pleading with them to stop. Kueng was working as a rookie officer while Thao had roughly nine years of experience with MPD. 

The state was trying Kueng and Thao together. Despite Kueng’s guilty plea, Thao remains on trial for aiding and abetting second degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

“J. Alexander Kueng is now the second officer involved in Floyd’s death to accept responsibility through a guilty plea. That acknowledgement hopefully can bring comfort to Floyd’s family and bring our communities closer to a new era of accountability and justice,” Ellison said in the statement.

Tou Thao’s trial

Additionally, Thao waived his right to a jury trial and joined the state in asking the court for a bench trial for his manslaughter charge, the statement said. In the bench trial, the state and Thao will work together to submit evidence to the court. The court will reach a verdict rather than a jury. 

According to Ellison, the state will wait to move forward with Thao’s murder trial until after the court reaches a verdict on the bench trial. If the court convicts Thao of his manslaughter charge, the state will dismiss Thao’s murder charge and will not seek increased sentencing beyond sentencing guidelines. 

“We look forward to a swift resolution of Tou Thao’s stipulated bench trial,” Ellison said in the statement.