The US Attorney’s Office called the sentencing request “reasonable and appropriate” given Chauvin’s offenses.
“A 300-month sentence appropriately captures the seriousness of the defendant’s abuses and the lasting harms that he has inflicted on his victims, their families, and the larger community,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors asked the 25-year sentence be followed by five years of supervised release.
The sentencing recommendation comes over two years after the former officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds while the 46-year-old Black man, handcuffed and lying prone in the street, gasped for air and told Chauvin and other officers, “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death on the Minneapolis pavement sparked protests nationwide against police brutality and racial injustice.
Chauvin also pleaded guilty in December to a separate federal case in which he was accused of depriving the rights of a 14-year-old in Minneapolis in 2017 for allegedly kneeling on the back and neck of the handcuffed, non-resisting teenager.
The federal judge presiding over the case accepted Chauvin’s plea deal last month. A sentencing date has not been set.
Calls to attorneys representing Chauvin were not immediately returned Thursday morning.