US President-elect Donald Trump escaped any legal punishment other than a criminal record for his felony crimes after a judge on Friday gave him an alternative sentence called unconditional release.
Judge Juan Marchan’s decision spares Trump any jail time, fines or probation supervision for his conviction, although the sentence cements his record as the first convicted felon to hold the White House.
The incoming president appeared remotely during the hearing with his lawyer on TV screens in the courtroom. Taking his opportunity to address the court, Trump maintained his innocence and said the case was a “tremendous setback” for 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.
A jury found him guilty on all 34 countsmaking him the first president to be convicted of a crime.
Trump, 78, has fought hard to stop his landmark sentence, including through an emergency request to the US Supreme Court this week. Late Thursday, the Supreme Court refused to do so, in a narrow 5-4 majority.
Trump’s crimes came with a potential penalty of up to four years in prison and $5,000 US in fines for each count. But trial courts have the power to impose a different sentence, if they see fit, based on all the circumstances of the crime and the criminal.
Below New York lawa judge can choose an unconditional release if he does not see prison time or probation in the best interest of the public.
“An unconditional release is virtually nothing in terms of punishment,” David Dorfman, a law professor at New York’s Pace University, told CBC News in an interview on Friday.
“You are now known forever as a felon, but basically there is no direct consequence to the 34 convictions. The former and soon-to-be president owes nothing to the courts.”
Former US President Donald Trump was found guilty at his trial in New York. CBC’s Anya Zoledziowski breaks down the key evidence and witnesses that led the jury to the landmark conviction.
Dorfman said Merchan was bound by the sentencing guidelines. In this case, Trump is a first-time, non-violent offender convicted of the lowest-level crime in New York — and imprisoning the president of the United States would be profoundly 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 expected sentence.
“The verdict in this case was unanimous and decisive, and it must be respected,” Steinglass said.
Trump is free to appeal
With the sentencing over, Trump is now free to formally appeal the jury’s verdict. It cannot be pardoned because these presidential powers only apply to federal crimes, not those brought at the state level.
The New York case revolved around porn star Stormy Daniels, who threatened to go public in the middle of Trump’s first presidential campaign about an extramarital affair between them in 2006.
Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, negotiated a $130,000 payment to keep Daniels quiet.
Trump paid it back, but Cohen told jurors last spring that the former president orchestrated a scheme to falsify records and cover up the deal.
In a final US Supreme Court filing to stop the ruling, Trump’s lawyers argued that their client was entitled to full immunity because of his November 5 election victory.
The claim attracted on a reference judgment of the Supreme Court last year that granted former presidents broad immunity for official acts.
In rejecting Trump’s last-minute request to halt his sentence, five Supreme Court justices said Trump could resolve his stated problems in the ordinary course of appeals. They also found that the gravity sentence placed on the responsibilities of the president-elect to be “relatively insubstantial”.
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2025-01-10 15:14:00
