US President-elect Donald Trump avoided any legal punishment other than a criminal record for his crimes after a judge on Friday handed him an alternative sentence called unconditional release.
Judge Juan Merchan’s ruling spares Trump any jail time, fines or probation supervision for his conviction, although the sentence cements his status as the first convicted felon in the White House.
The new president appeared remotely during the hearing with his lawyer on TV screens in the courtroom. Taking the opportunity to address the court, Trump maintained his innocence and said the case was a “huge blow” to the justice system.
“I’m completely innocent, I’ve done nothing wrong,” said Trump, who takes office on January 20.
The president-elect was convicted in May on charges that he falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to erupt during his first presidential campaign in 2016.
Jury found him guilty on all 34 counts of the indictmentmaking him the first president to be convicted as a criminal.
Trump, 78, has fought hard to stop his historic sentence, including an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court this week. Late Thursday, the Supreme Court declined to do so, by a narrow 5-4 majority.
Trump’s crimes were punishable by up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine for each count. But trial courts have the power to impose a different sentence if they deem it necessary, based on all the circumstances of the crime and the criminal.
Under New York lawthe judge can decide on unconditional release if he does not think that a prison sentence or probation is in the best interest of the public.
“An unconditional release is virtually nothing in terms of punishment,” David Dorfman, a law professor at Pace University in New York, said in an interview with CBC News on Friday.
“Now you are forever known as a criminal, but basically there are no direct consequences for 34 convictions. The former and future president owes nothing to the courts.”
Former US President Donald Trump was found guilty in a New York embezzlement trial. CBC’s Anya Zoledziowski breaks down the key evidence and witnesses that led the jury to the historic conviction.
Dorfman said Merchan is bound by the sentencing guidelines. In this case, Trump is a first-time non-violent offender convicted of the lowest felony in New York — and imprisoning the President of the United States would be highly impractical.
“I think Judge Merchan would have been a lot tougher on him if he had lost the election,” said Dorfman, who is not connected to the case.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the court Friday that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office supported Merchan’s planned sentence.
“The verdict in this case was unanimous and decisive and must be respected,” Steinglass said.
Trump free to complain
With the verdict complete, Trump can now formally appeal the jury’s verdict. He can’t pardon himself because those presidential powers only apply to federal crimes, not those enacted at the state level.
Canada is among dozens of countries in the world that refuse entry to criminals. They will likely to lash out at Canada’s immigration minister grant Trump special status to allow him legal entry into the country.
The New York case revolved around porn star Stormy Daniels who, in the middle of Trump’s first presidential campaign, threatened to go public about their extramarital encounter in 2006.
Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, arranged a $130,000 non-disclosure agreement to keep Daniels quiet.
Trump paid him back, but Cohen told jurors last spring that the former president orchestrated a plan to falsify records and cover up the deal.
In the US Supreme Court’s latest request to stay the sentencing, Trump’s lawyers argued that their client is entitled to full immunity because of his November 5 election victory.
He drew the request on the important judgment of the Supreme Court last year that gave former presidents blanket immunity for official acts.
Rejecting Trump’s last-minute request to stay his sentencing, the five Supreme Court justices said Trump could resolve his listed issues in a regular appeals process. They also found that the burden the sentence would place on the president-elect’s responsibilities was “relatively insignificant.”
Separate cases of Trump disappear after winning the election
The hush money case was the only one of Trump’s four indictments to go to trial. Each stemmed from an investigation that began before Trump announced his intention to run for a second term.
Since Trump won the election, special prosecutor Jack Smith has decided to drop two federal cases.
One related to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, which resulted in hundreds of his supporters storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021. In another case, Trump was accused of stockpiling classified documents at his properties in Florida and New Jersey and defying several the government’s attempts to force him to return them after his first term as president ended.
they exist ongoing legal arguments over the public release of the special prosecutor’s report on these cases.
Trump has been charged in Georgia with meddling in the 2020 election. That case is largely pending.
