A New York judge has scheduled President-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case for January 10, just 10 days before his inauguration on January 20. Judge Juan Merchan indicated that he is unlikely to impose a jail sentence on Trump, who will become the first former president to be convicted of a crime. The judge has given Trump the option to appear in person or virtually for the sentencing hearing.
In an 18-page decision, Merchan rejected various motions from Trump’s lawyers seeking to have his conviction thrown out.
The judge said that instead of incarceration he was leaning towards an unconditional discharge –- a far more lenient sentence that would nevertheless have Trump entering the White House as a convicted felon.
“It seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration,” the judge said, noting that prosecutors also did not believe a jail term was a “practicable recommendation.”
Trump was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to stop her from revealing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.
Trump’s attorneys had sought to have the case dismissed on various grounds, including the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last year that former US presidents have sweeping immunity from prosecution for a range of official acts committed while in office.
Merchan rejected that argument but he noted that Trump will be immune from prosecution once he is sworn in as president.
Finding no legal impediment to sentencing and recognizing that Presidential immunity will likely attach once Defendant takes his Oath of Office, it is incumbent upon this Court to set this matter down for imposition of sentence prior to January 20, 2025,” Merchan said.
Trump also faced two federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith but both were dropped under a long-standing Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.
