New York City judge orders Trump to appear for sentencing in Stormy Daniels hush money case and says there will be no jail time

NEW YORK – Donald Trump will become the first felon to serve as president of the United States after a New York judge ruled on Friday. denied his request to overturn the guilty verdicts in his secret money case and, in a surprising development, ordered him to appear for sentencing next week.

In an 18-page decision, state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchán scheduled Trump’s sentencing for Jan. 10, at 9:30 a.m., at 100 Center St. in lower Manhattan, in person or virtually . Merchan said he was leaning toward imposing a lenient and rarely heard sentence of unconditional release, meaning Trump would not face jail time, probation or any other form of punishment. The judge said it appeared to be “the most viable solution to ensure finality” and allow Trump to pursue his appeal options.

Rejecting Trump’s argument that the historic conviction would affect his ability to govern and other legal positions, Merchan said overturning the guilty verdicts would, in fact, cause “immeasurable harm” to the nation’s confidence in the law. Trump had argued, in part, that the decision of the voters who elected him should override that of the jury that found he had broken the law.

“Here, 12 jurors unanimously found the defendant guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records with intent to defraud, which included intent to commit or conceal a conspiracy to promote a presidential election by illegal means. “It was premeditated and ongoing deception by the leader of the free world that was the reason for this offense,” Merchan wrote.

“To overturn this verdict on the basis that the charges are not sufficiently serious given the position that the defendant once held and is about to assume again, would constitute a disproportionate result and would cause immeasurable damage to public confidence in the State of right”.

Trump could ask a New York appeals court to intervene and stop the proceedings 10 days before his presidential inauguration. However, letting this go forward would allow him to appeal his conviction instantly.

In a statement, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung criticized the decision.

“President Trump must be allowed to continue the presidential transition process and execute the vital duties of the presidency, unhindered by the remnants of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunt. There should be no sentencing and President Trump will continue to fight these hoaxes until they are all dead,” Cheung wrote.

A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case, declined to comment.

The ruling, in response to a motion Trump filed after his election victory, represents Merchan’s final word on Trump’s many efforts to have the case dismissed.

Last month, Merchan rejected a motion Trump filed before the election to overturn the verdicts and dismiss the underlying indictment based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity. who fell after he was found guilty and granted the president broad immunity from criminal proceedings for “official acts.”

Trump had argued that the ruling meant prosecutors were barred from showing evidence related to his tenure, including testimony from White House staff and threatening posts on his presidential social media account directed at Michael Cohen, his former fixer. He judge agreed with prosecutors’ position that the evidence in question referred to “completely unofficial conduct.”

On Friday, Merchan rejected arguments Trump renewed after the election that he was protected by the Supreme Court decision, writing that “immunity from criminal prosecution for a sitting president does not extend to a president-elect.”

A jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on May 30 related to his reimbursement to Cohen for paying porn star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election, classifying him as the first US president found guilty of breaking the law. The charges carry up to four years in prison.

Prosecutors at trial argued that Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Daniels bought his silence about a Sordid sexual encounter she has long claimed to have had with Trump at a 2006 golf tournament, when the actress and porn producer was 27 years old and he was 60. Evidence at trial showed that this was a plan to suppress unflattering information about his past from voters in 2016.

The criminal case was the only one of the four presented against Trump after his first term who did it before a jury. After his victory, the Justice Department moved to end federal cases accusing him of conspiring to overthrow President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory and hoarding highly sensitive classified documents impacting national security after leaving office. and store them poorly in their country clubs.

He is not expected to face trial on state criminal charges in Georgia, related to his alleged election subversion efforts, anytime soon.

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