Derek Chauvin has been transferred from a Minnesota state prison where he was often held in solitary confinement to a medium-security federal prison in Arizona, where the former police officer convicted of killing George Floyd can be held under less restrictive conditions. Chauvin was transferred Wednesday from a maximum-security prison in a Minneapolis suburb, where he often spent most of his day in a 10-by-10-foot cell, to the Federal Penitentiary in Tucson, according to the Bureau of Prisons. The Tucson facility houses 266 inmates, both male and female, as part of a larger complex that includes a high-security penitentiary and a minimum-security satellite camp. Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Randilee Giamusso declined to elaborate on the conditions of Chauvin’s confinement, citing privacy, safety and security concerns. Experts said earlier that Chauvin was likely to be safer in the federal system. He typically houses less violent inmates and would be less likely to mix with inmates he had arrested or investigated as a Minneapolis police officer. “It’s dangerous to be an officer in any prison,” former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger said after Chauvin’s sentencing last month. “It’s even more dangerous in state prisons because of the nature of the inmate population. There are gangs, for example. And the cops just don’t do well there. Those risks are reduced in a federal prison.” The federal prison system does house many high-profile inmates, but it is also plagued by gangs and chronic violence. The entire federal prison system was put on national lockdown in January after two inmates were killed and two others injured during a gang fight at a federal penitentiary in Texas. The Bureau of Prisons has also faced increasing scrutiny for violent incidents and serious misconduct within its ranks. Associated Press investigations revealed abuse, neglect and leadership mistakes, including rampant sexual abuse by workers, severe staff shortages, prisoner escapes and mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chauvin was convicted last month in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Paul to 21 years on federal civil rights charges after pleading guilty in a deal with prosecutors. He was already serving 22 1/2 years for his conviction in state court on charges of murder and involuntary manslaughter. a term of the agreement called for the sentences to be served concurrently in federal prison. Chauvin, who is white, killed Floyd by pinning the unarmed Black man to the pavement with his knee for 9 1/2 minutes as bystander video captured Floyd struggling to breathe and screaming for help. Floyd was suspected of passing a counterfeit note at a nearby grocery store. Floyd’s death on May 25, 2020 sparked a storm of protests around the world and refocused attention on police brutality and racism. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson suggested at sentencing that Chauvin be placed near family who live between Iowa and Minnesota. But federal officials are not bound by court requests. Last month Magnuson also sentenced former Minneapolis police officer J. Alexander Kueng to three years in prison and former officer Tou Thao to 3 1/2 years on criminal civil rights charges related to Floyd’s murder. They plan to appeal their sentences. Earlier in July, former officer Thomas Lane was sentenced to 2 1/2 years. He was ordered to report to a low-security federal prison camp in Colorado later this month. The three former officers were on trial at the same time three men were in court in Georgia facing federal hate crime charges in the killing of Ahmaud Arberry, who was black. They were eventually convicted. Two of the men agreed to plead guilty in the case in exchange for serving their sentences in federal prison, saying they fear for their safety in state prisons. The judge rejected the deal in part because Arbery’s family strongly objected. Our Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
