Derek Chauvin

Derek Chauvin
Born:	1976 St. Paul area, Minnesota (per secondary reporting)
Charges:	Federal: deprivation of civil rights under color of law (2 counts). State (Minnesota): second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter.
Sentence:	21 years (252 months) federal, running concurrently with a 22.5-year Minnesota state sentence
Released:	Not verified via BOP; omitted
Facility:	FCI Big Spring (low-security)
Status:	Incarcerated at FCI Big Spring (low-security), Texas

Derek Michael Chauvin (born 1976) is a former officer with the Minneapolis Police Department who was convicted in the May 25, 2020 killing of George Floyd. The death occurred after Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck during an arrest. On April 20, 2021, a Hennepin County, Minnesota jury found him guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin was subsequently sentenced to 22.5 years in state prison on June 25, 2021. Facing a separate federal case, he entered a guilty plea in December 2021. He was later sentenced on July 7, 2022 to 21 years for depriving Floyd of his civil rights under color of law, in addition to the rights of a then-14-year-old during an unrelated 2017 incident. This federal term runs concurrently with his state sentence. Chauvin is currently incarcerated in federal custody at FCI Big Spring, a low-security facility located in Texas.

Early Life and Career

Derek Chauvin was born in 1976 and grew up in the St. Paul, Minnesota area. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve, including military police roles, in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He joined the Minneapolis Police Department in 2001 and was a patrol officer at the time of George Floyd's death in 2020.

Criminal Case

On May 25, 2020, Chauvin, then a Minneapolis police officer, responded to a report of a counterfeit $20 bill and restrained George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, face-down on the street, kneeling on his neck and back for roughly nine and a half minutes while Floyd said he could not breathe and then became unresponsive. Floyd died. Bystander video of the arrest circulated widely and touched off nationwide protests in the summer of 2020. Chauvin was fired from the department the following day and later charged by the state of Minnesota. Federal prosecutors separately charged him with violating Floyd's civil rights, and with violating the civil rights of a then-14-year-old boy he had restrained in an unrelated 2017 arrest.

Trial and Sentencing

Chauvin's state trial ran from March to April 2021 in Hennepin County District Court before Judge Peter A. Cahill, and it was the first fully televised criminal trial in Minnesota. On April 20, 2021, the jury found him guilty on all three counts (second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter). On June 25, 2021, Judge Cahill sentenced him to 22.5 years, an upward departure from the presumptive guideline range citing aggravating factors including abuse of a position of trust and particular cruelty. In the federal case, Chauvin pleaded guilty on December 15, 2021 to two counts of deprivation of civil rights under color of law. On July 7, 2022, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson sentenced him to 21 years (252 months) in federal prison, to run concurrently with the state sentence. One outlet reported the federal sentencing as July 8, 2022, but the Department of Justice dates it July 7, 2022.

Incarceration

After his state conviction, Chauvin was held at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights, a state prison. In August 2022, following federal sentencing, he was transferred into the federal Bureau of Prisons and placed at FCI Tucson, a medium-security facility in Arizona. On November 24, 2023, he was stabbed 22 times at FCI Tucson by another inmate, John Turscak, a former Mexican Mafia member, but Chauvin survived, and Turscak was charged with attempted murder and related counts. In August 2024, Chauvin was transferred, via the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, to FCI Big Spring (low-security) in Big Spring, Texas, where he remains as of the most recent public reporting.

Release and Aftermath

Chauvin remains incarcerated. He is serving his 21-year federal sentence concurrently with his 22.5-year Minnesota state sentence, in federal custody. No verified Bureau of Prisons projected or actual release date is included here. Following his federal guilty plea, he waived direct appeal of the federal conviction, and his state conviction was upheld on appeal by the Minnesota Court of Appeals, with the Minnesota Supreme Court declining further review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What did Derek Chauvin do?

As a Minneapolis police officer, Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck and back for about nine and a half minutes during a May 25, 2020 arrest, and Floyd died. A Minnesota jury convicted him of murder and manslaughter, and he separately pleaded guilty to federal civil-rights violations.

Q: How long is Derek Chauvin's sentence?

He was sentenced to 21 years (252 months) in federal prison for civil-rights violations, running concurrently with a 22.5-year Minnesota state sentence for second-degree murder and related counts.

Q: Where is Derek Chauvin incarcerated?

He is in federal custody at FCI Big Spring, a low-security federal correctional institution in Big Spring, Texas, where he was transferred in August 2024. He was previously held at FCI Tucson (where he was stabbed in November 2023) and, before entering federal custody, at Minnesota's Oak Park Heights state prison.

Q: When was Derek Chauvin convicted?

A Minnesota jury convicted him on all three state counts on April 20, 2021, and he was sentenced on June 25, 2021. He pleaded guilty in the federal case on December 15, 2021 and was sentenced on July 7, 2022.

Q: When will Derek Chauvin be released?

No verified Bureau of Prisons release date is confirmed here. He is serving concurrent sentences of 21 years (federal) and 22.5 years (state) and remains incarcerated.

See also

• Index of Federal Prison Facilities
• FCI Big Spring (low-security)