Trump to be sentenced in hush money case days before inauguration but won’t face jail time in shock decision by judge
A SENTENCING date for Donald Trump’s hush money conviction has been set 10 days before the president-elect’s inauguration.
Judge Juan Merchan issued the bombshell ruling on Friday, ordering Trump to appear for sentencing on January 10.
In his ruling, Merchan said he found no “legal impediment to sentencing” Trump.
Judge Merchan wrote that Trump’s motions arguing against sentencing are “unpersuasive as no compelling factor, consideration or circumstance submitted demonstrates that imposition of sentence would result in an injustice.”
“Only by bringing finality to this matter” will the interests of justice be served, he wrote.
Merchan indicated that Trump will not face jail time and could appear virtually or in person at his sentencing on January 10.
In his decision, Merchan wrote that it “seemed proper” to inform Trump that he was “inclined not to impose” a prison sentence, acknowledging the court “no longer view as a practicable recommendation.”
In considering the Supreme Court‘s presidential immunity decision, the judge wrote that an unconditional discharge sentence appeared to be the “most viable solution to ensure finality.”
An unconditional discharge closes a case without jail time, a fine, or probation.
The sentencing will come 10 days before Trump is sworn in as the 47th president on January 20.
Trump’s defense team fought for months with Merchan to dismiss the case after the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and his November presidential election victory.
Merchan pushed back Trump’s original August 2024 sentencing after the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents are immune from prosecution for “some official acts” but no immunity for unofficial acts.
However, after Trump’s November 5 election win, Judge Merchan paused and indefinitely suspended the sentencing so the defense and prosecution could discuss the case’s future.
At the same time, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office filed several motions opposing the dismissal of the conviction.
Bragg, a Democrat, acknowledged the magnitude of sentencing an incoming president and suggested freezing the proceedings until the conclusion of Trump’s second term.
That would have meant sentencing would not occur until January 2029 at the earliest.
A jury in Lower Manhattan convicted Trump on May 30, 2024, of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an alleged scheme to hide hush money payments to pornstar Stormy Daniels.
During the 2016 presidential election cycle, Daniels, born Stephanie Clifford, was going to go public with allegations that she had an affair with then-presidential candidate Trump.
But, when Trump and his team caught a whiff of Daniels’ plans, the real estate tycoon allegedly ordered his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to pay off the adult star to suppress the story.
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