Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane released from prison

Thomas Lane, the first of four Minneapolis, Minnesota police officers convicted for their role in the killing of George Floyd, has been released from prison, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Lane, 41, was released from federal prison on Tuesday, Aug. 20, according to online prison records. A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed Lane's release to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Aug. 21.

Lane was the first police officer convicted in federal court of violating Floyd's civil rights by willfully ignoring his medical needs and failing to render aid when Derek Chauvin, the highest-ranking police officer on the scene, pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes on May 25, 2020, killing him.

Lane and two other former police officers — Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng — watched as Floyd, 46, gasped for air and repeatedly expressed his distress. A viral video of Floyd's killing sparked the country's largest civil rights protests in decades and led to heightened awareness of police brutality and racial injustice in the U.S.

All three testified on their own behalf, saying they took their cues from Chauvin, who was fired a day after the killing and later convicted of Floyd's murder. Floyd had been arrested by the four officers for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill at a corner convenience store in Minneapolis.

Lane was sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison in July 2022, PEOPLE previously reported. He was later sentenced to three years in state prison after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, CNN reported. According to the source, citing the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Lane served his sentence at the Englewood Federal Correctional Facility in Littleton, Colorado, just outside of Denver.

A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Corrections said in an email to PEOPLE on Wednesday, August 21, that Lane's federal and state sentences would be served concurrently, adding that he began serving his federal sentence earlier this year.

The spokesperson also confirmed that Lane was released from “the term of his sentence in Minnesota” on Tuesday, August 20, and will serve one year of probation.

“In Minnesota, he will serve 2/3 of his sentence and the remainder of his time under supervision,” the spokesperson wrote. “His approved release plan transfers supervision to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections through an interstate agreement. Lane's sentence will expire on 8/20/2025.”

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In June 2021, Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison – or 270 months – after being convicted of murder and manslaughter in connection with Floyd's killing. He later pleaded guilty in federal court to violating Floyd's civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. His sentences will run concurrently.

In November 2023, Chauvin survived a stabbing attack by another inmate at a federal prison in Arizona, PEOPLE previously reported. He was transferred to a federal prison in Texas on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, citing federal prison officials.

Thao and Kueng were sentenced to 42 and 36 months in federal prison, respectively, in July 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice previously announced. Like Lane, they were convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights.