Derek Chauvin will remain in a segregation unit at a maximum security prison post-sentencing
- Derek Chauvin will remain at a maximum security prison in Minnesota post-sentencing.
- Chauvin is among 341 inmates at the Oak Park Heights prison, where he is held apart from the general population.
- The former police officer has been held there since he was convicted of killing George Floyd.
Editor's note: A June 25 sentencing order stated that Derek Chauvin was to be committed to the Minnesota Correctional Facility at St. Cloud. After publication of this story, a state Department of Corrections spokesperson clarified Chauvin would remain at its Oak Park Heights facility.
Derek Chauvin will remain in a segregation unit at a maximum security prison "for the time being," the Minnesota Department of Corrections said Monday.
Chauvin, 45, was sentenced Friday to 22.5 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd. He has been held at the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Oak Park Heights, where he is living apart from the general population of the prison in the Administrative Control Unit, since a jury found him guilty in April of murdering George Floyd.
Typically after a sentencing hearing in Minnesota, male inmates are brought to the Minnesota Correctional Facility at St. Cloud, a lower-security facility, where they are booked and assessed. Their photos and finger prints are taken and they are given an evaluation, before being sent to a more permanent housing assignment.
A DOC spokesperson told Insider Chauvin was already being held at Oak Park Heights before the sentencing hearing, and so would not go through that intake process.
"He was at Oak Park Heights for his safety pre-sentencing," the spokesperson said. "Since he was already at Oak Park Heights and was going to stay there, it would have not made sense to bring him up to St. Cloud."
Chauvin is among nearly 300 convicted killers at the prison
Oak Park Heights is currently housing 341 inmates, just under 40% of whom identify as white, according to the prison's data. Of those prisoners, 276 are serving sentences for homicide.
Chauvin was convicted of killing Floyd by kneeling on his neck and back for more than 9 minutes as he begged for his life. His sentence of 22.5 years is higher than the average sentence of 12.5 years for the average first-time offender charged with the same crime. A judge found that aggravating factors at the time of Floyd's death called for the upward departure from sentencing guidelines.
Minnesota inmates must serve a minimum of two-thirds of their sentence, meaning Chauvin could be released in 15 years.