Derek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering African-American George Floyd, pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal civil rights violations charges in the crime, local media reported.
It was the first time that Chauvin, who is appealing his murder conviction in state court, admitted guilt for holding his knee to Floyd's neck for nearly 10 minutes until Floyd expired, in a case that sparked nationwide protests against police abuse of Black Americans.
Chauvin pleaded guilty to one federal charge of use of excessive force against Floyd, violating his constitutional rights, according to local Minnesota media at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis.
He also pleaded guilty to a similar charge against a juvenile in 2017.
Chauvin, who was sentenced in June to 22 and a half years in prison by a state judge for the murder of Floyd, faces a sentence of 20 to 25 years in the federal rights case.
That would be served concurrently with the sentence in the murder conviction.
His guilty plea ensures the 45-year-old former Minneapolis policeman will spend years in prison, whatever happens with his appeal on the murder charge.
Chauvin had originally pleaded innocent in the federal case. But the judge told him that if he had not changed that to guilty, he faced possible life imprisonment, according to local WCCO-TV.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Charges Dropped Against US Cop Who Killed Black Motorist In 2023 Four Years After George Floyd Killing, Police Reform Slow To Follow "I Can't Breathe": Black Man Dies After US Cops Pin Him Down, Kneel On Neck Vandalism At Kolkata Hospital Where Doctor Was Raped, Tear Gas Fired 150 mg Semen In Kolkata Doctor's Body, Suspect Gang-Rape: Parents To Court Starbucks' Indian-Origin CEO, Recently Fired, Never Worked Past 6 pm "Malicious Campaign": Top Kolkata Cop Blames Media For Hospital Vandalism 1.4 Million Afghan Girls Banned From Schools Since Taliban Return To Power US Judge Says "Monopolist" Google Can't Avoid App Store Reforms Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.