New York (TDI): The New York judge presiding over President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money case on Friday set sentencing for ten days before his January 20 inauguration and said he will not impose jail time.
Judge Juan Merchan said Trum can appear either in person or virtually at his January 10 sentencing.
In an 18-page decision, Merchan upheld Donald Trump’s conviction by a New York jury, rejecting multiple motions from his lawyers seeking to have it thrown out.
The judge said that instead of ailing he was leaning towards an unconditional discharge — meaning Trump would not be subject to any conditions.
The sentence would nevertheless see Trump entering the White House as a convicted person.
Also Read: Trump’s Victory and Its Ripple Effect on Global Health
Trump potentially faced up to 4 years in jail but legal experts — even before he won the November presidential polls — did not expect Merchan to send him behind the bars.
“It seems proper at this time to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration,” the judge said, adding that prosecutors also did not believe incarceration was a “practicable recommendation.”
Trump, who is likely to lodge an appeal that could potentially delay his sentencing, criticized the decision late Friday.
“This unlawful political attack is just a Rigged Charade,” he wrote on his platform Truth Social.
Calling Merchan a “radical partisan,” Trump said that the order was “knowingly illegal, goes against the constitution and, if allowed to stand, would be the end of the Presidency as we know it.”
Trump Convicted for 34 Charges
Trump was convicted in New York in May of 34 charges of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential elections to stop her from revealing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.
Also Read: Trump Asks Supreme Court to Delay TikTok Ban
Trump’s lawyers had sought to have the case dismissed on multiple grounds, including the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in 2024 that former US presidents have sweeping immunity from prosecution for a range of official acts committed while in office.
