Derek Chauvin, who was convicted for the murder of George Floyd, is close to reaching a plea deal in his federal civil rights case CBS Minnesota reports. If a deal is reached, Chauvin would avoid a life sentence.

According to reports, if a plea deal is arranged, Chauvin could possibly receive a 20- to 25-year sentence, which he would serve concurrently with his state sentence of 22 and a half years. Additionally, he would serve out his prison term in a federal prison instead of a state institution.

Sources have speculated that Chauvin was alluding to his hopes for a plea deal in the vague statement he gave during his sentence hearing last Friday per Daily Mail.

"Due to legal matters, I'm not able to give a full formal statement. … I give my condolences to the Floyd family. There’s going to be some other information in the future that will be of interest, and I hope this will give you some peace of mind,” Chauvin said according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

“There’s going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest, and uh, I hope that things will give you some peace of mind. Thank you,” he added.

In the plea deal, Chauvin would have to give a public explanation of why he put his knee on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes, causing his death.

Mary Moriarty, the former Chief Public Defender of Hennepin County, believes that the swift guilty verdict that was handed down to Chauvin was more than enough motivation for him to pursue a deal in his federal civil rights case.

“That is because, in federal court, there would be a substantial difference between what he would receive if he went to trial and was convicted versus what he would get if he pled guilty, and as they say take responsibility for his actions,” Moriarity said according to the New York Post.

As Blavity previously reported, Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter, and was sentenced to over two decades in prison for Floyd's killing. According to prosecutors, Chauvin received a higher sentence because “he abused a position of trust and authority."

On May 7, Chauvin was indicted by a grand jury on separate federal charges that he violated Floyd's civil rights by use of excessive force during the arrest.

Chauvin is currently serving his time at Oak Park Heights, Minnesota's only maximum-security prison, in a segregated unit away from the rest of the institution’s population.

According to Minnesota prison guidelines, inmates must serve a minimum of two-thirds of their sentence, meaning Chauvin could be released in 15 years.

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