Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is about to swap solitary confinement at Minnesota's only maximum-security prison for an unknown future at a federal prison.
Experts say that despite Chauvin's national notoriety for killing George Floyd, he probably will be safer at whatever federal prison he's placed, and might have a bit more freedom there. Chauvin will be sentenced on Thursday on federal civil rights charges.
He's already serving 22 1/2 years for his conviction in state court on murder and manslaughter charges. His plea deal on the federal charges calls for a concurrent sentence of 20 to 25 years in federal prison.
For his own safety, Chauvin, 46, has been held since his conviction in “administrative segregation” at the state’s maximum-security prison at Oak Park Heights. He’s been largely confined to a 10-by-10-foot room, which he’s been allowed to leave for an average of one hour a day for exercise.