George Floyd Killer Pleads Guilty in Tax Case | What Does This Mean for Justice?

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The ex-police officer from Minneapolis who killed George Floyd in 2020 just admitted to breaking the law by not paying taxes. He pleaded guilty to two charges of not paying taxes on Friday.

Derek Chauvin admitted that he did not pay taxes in the state of Minnesota for the years 2016 and 2017. He appeared in court online from a prison in Tucson, Arizona. He was walking around the room before the hearing started.

Derek Chauvin and his ex-wife were accused of not telling the government about their true income and not filing taxes. His ex-wife admitted that they did it wrong by saying sorry to two charges.

Chauvin said he did it because of some money problems at the time. In the past, Chauvin was found guilty in killing George Floyd and breaking George’s civil rights.

On May 25, 2020 a man named Floyd died after another man, called Chauvin – who was white – kept his knee pressed onto Floyd’s neck for over 9 minutes. During this time Floyd, who had his hands handcuffed behind him, said that he couldn’t breathe. People from all around the world noticed what happened and were so angry at how wrong it was that they protested against it to speak out about racial injustice.

Soon after George Floyd’s death, Mr. and Mrs. Chauvin (former couple) got into trouble for not reporting their income correctly to the state of Minnesota and not paying taxes for a period of five years (2014-2019). According to the records from the court, these two owe nearly $38,000 in unpaid taxes, interest and other fees.

In June 2020, the Minnesota Department of Revenue noticed something weird in Derek Chauvin’s tax return and they started an investigation. They first looked into it and then opened a formal investigation.

It turns out that the Chauvins hadn’t filed their state taxes from 2016 to 2018, and they also left out some of the income they had earned in 2014 and 2015 when filing those taxes. Furthermore, when these same people filed their taxes for all the years between 2016 to 2019, they didn’t mention all the money they got during this period either.

People complained that Officer Chauvin had to pay taxes on the money he made from doing security work outside his regular job. The investigators think that between 2014 and 2020, Officer Chauvin earned nearly $100,000 which he did not pay taxes on.

Kellie May Chauvin, who was the ex-wife of someone, agreed to plead guilty on February 24. Because of this, she must follow the agreement for 3 years with a limit of 45 days community service and she also has to pay back what she owes. The other charges were taken away and will be sentenced on May 12.

In 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of killing someone and breaking the law. He was given a sentence of 22 1/2 years in prison for this. Additionally, he also admitted to breaking another law by not following the rights of Floyd and hence had to serve 21 more years in prison. Both these sentences will run together at the same time.

Three policemen were found guilty of breaking the law by not respecting Floyd’s rights. Two of them have been given punishments for helping and causing the death, while one more is still waiting for a judge to decide their punishment.

Trisha Ahmed works for a special program called Report for America. This is an organization that puts journalists in local newsrooms to help write stories about topics that don’t usually get much coverage. You can follow her on Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15.