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Derek Chauvin is in a prison’s segregated housing unit for his safety while he awaits sentencing.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was put into a prison’s segregated housing unit for his own safety, a prison spokesperson said, after Chauvin was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd on Tuesday.
Here’s what’s next for Chauvin after his conviction:
Derek Chauvin’s booking photos, released Wednesday.
Sentencing will be in eight weeks
Chauvin will be sentenced in about eight weeks — so, around the second week of June — Judge Peter Cahill said Tuesday, with a precise date to be announced.
Although Chauvin had been out on bail since October, Cahill revoked Chauvin’s bail after the verdict. Chauvin will now await sentencing while behind bars.
He is being held in a segregated unit
Chauvin on Tuesday was taken to a state prison — the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights — to await sentencing, Department of Corrections spokesperson Sarah Fitzgerald said.
Sighs of relief at the Chauvin guilty verdict, but activists say the work on racial justice is far from over
The correctional facility is in Stillwater, about 25 miles east of downtown Minneapolis.
There, he was placed in an administrative control unit — a housing unit that is separated from the general population, Fitzgerald said.
“He is on ‘administrative segregation’ status for his safety,” Fitzgerald wrote to CNN in an email. “Administrative segregation is used when someone’s presence in the general population is a safety concern.”
He is at the prison through an agreement between the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Department of Corrections, Fitzgerald told CNN.
The judge will consider these factors
Chauvin’s sentence will depend on several factors, including the state’s sentencing guidelines, and whether the judge decides to go beyond the guidelines because of certain circumstances.
Technically, Chauvin could face up to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, up to 25 years for third-degree murder, and up to 10 years for manslaughter.
However, Chauvin has no prior criminal record. The state’s guidelines say that for such a person, the presumptive sentence for both second-degree and third-degree murder is 12 1/2 years. The judge is given discretion to hand down a sentence between 10 years and eight months and 15 years for each.
Derek Chauvin found guilty of murder and manslaughter for killing George Floyd
Second-degree manslaughter carries a presumptive sentence of four years for someone with no record, according to the guidelines. The judge’s discretion ranges from three years and five months to four years and eight months.
However, prosecutors are asking for a tougher sentence than the recommendations provide.
In two filings last year, prosecutors said five aggravating factors warrant an increased sentence. Those factors include that Floyd was particularly vulnerable, that he was treated with particular cruelty, and that children were present when the crimes were committed.
If the judge applies aggravating factors, it would shift Chauvin’s sentence to a higher part of the legal range.
The sentences for all three crimes would likely be served at the same time, not consecutively. “Generally, when an offender is convicted of multiple current offenses… concurrent sentencing is presumptive,” according to the guidelines.
What about the other officers charged?
The three other officers facing charges in Floyd’s death are expected to be tried together in August. Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng are all charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
