Were any of George Floyd's arrests before 2020 resulting in convictions?

1. What the record sources say: confirmed convictions and timings

Public summaries compiled by outlets such as Snopes, Britannica and several databases report Floyd had convictions in Texas and elsewhere in the late 1990s and 2000s for offenses including theft and drug-related crimes; Snopes specifies a 1998 theft conviction ^[1], and Discover the Networks and other timelines list convictions and incarcerations in the 1997–2009 period ^[4]. Those sources also document that after his parole in January 2013 Floyd relocated to Minneapolis in 2014 and had no criminal convictions in Minnesota from 2014 until his death in 2020 ^{[2] [5]}.

2. Which pre-2020 arrests resulted in convictions — what the sources explicitly identify

Available reporting explicitly identifies convictions for theft in 1998 and multiple drug-related convictions and sentences in the 2000s (for example, cocaine-related cases cited in 2002, 2004 and 2005 by some outlets) ^{[1] [4] [6]}. Britannica and other profiles summarize that Floyd’s life included “poverty, addiction, and bad decisions,” and note earlier convictions and prison time before his relocation to Minneapolis ^[5]. Local and national coverage likewise records prior convictions rather than an absence of any criminal history ^{[7] [8]}.

3. Disputed or exaggerated claims: violent crimes and specific allegations

Multiple fact-checks and reporting warn that viral lists and social posts exaggerated Floyd’s record by attributing violent offenses he was not convicted of. Snopes concluded some circulating claims mixed true and false elements and corrected an early viral claim that misidentified a 1998 conviction as armed robbery when it was theft ^[1]. PolitiFact and other outlets likewise found social posts exaggerated and distorted his criminal history, adding crimes not charged or proven ^[3]. Al Jazeera and misinformation analysts document how those exaggerations reappeared as part of narratives that sought to justify the actions of officers or to discredit Floyd’s public role after his death ^[9].

4. Geographic and temporal context matters

Reporting emphasizes geography and timing: Floyd’s recorded convictions are primarily from his earlier life in Texas and the 1990s–2000s period; by contrast, while he had interactions with Minneapolis police after moving there, he had no convictions recorded in Minnesota between 2014 and 2020 ^[2]. This distinction is important because some viral summaries presented a continuous or recent “violent” criminality that the sources do not support for the years directly preceding his death ^{[1] [2]}.

5. How major outlets framed the record amid the murder and trial coverage

News outlets that covered Floyd’s murder and the subsequent trials focused primarily on the circumstances of his death and the officers’ conduct; they acknowledged his past convictions as background but rejected claims that his criminal history justified the actions taken during the 2020 encounter. Minneapolis Police Department leadership and multiple news organizations emphasized there was nothing in the Cup Foods call that should have resulted in the fatal outcome ^{[1] [8]}. Chauvin’s conviction and the city’s $27 million settlement were reported as the central legal outcomes tied to the 2020 death ^{[10] [8]}.

6. Limitations of available sources and remaining gaps

Available sources document some convictions (1998 theft; drug-related convictions in the 2000s) and say Floyd had prior prison time, but they vary in level of detail and exact charge wording ^{[1] [4] [6]}. Some outlets and databases repeat similar items; others flag exaggerations. Specific court docket entries or an authoritative consolidated court record are not provided in the search results above, so precise charge-by-charge confirmation beyond the convictions cited in these articles is not found in current reporting (not found in current reporting).

7. Bottom line for the question “Were any pre-2020 arrests resulting in convictions?”

Yes. The sources show George Floyd had pre-2020 convictions — notably a 1998 theft conviction and multiple drug-related convictions and sentences in the 2000s — and he served time prior to relocating to Minneapolis ^{[1] [4] [5]}. However, fact-checkers and major outlets caution that some widely shared lists overstated or misstated violent offenses he was never convicted of, and they emphasize that by 2014–2020 he had no convictions in Minnesota ^{[1] [3] [2]}.