In an extraordinary twist, a judge on Friday set a Jan. 10 sentencing date for President-elect Donald Trump in his hush money case — just 10 days before he returns to the White House — but indicated he would not be sent to prison.
Yet the development leaves Trump on track to become the first president to hold office convicted of felony crimes.
Judge Juan M. Marchan, who presided over Trump’s trial, indicated in a written decision that he would sentence the former and future president to a conditional discharge, which closes the case without jail time, fines or probation.
Merchan rejected Trump’s pressure to overturn the verdict and dismiss the case on grounds of presidential immunity and his imminent return to the White House. The judge said that he sees no legal obstacle to sentencing Trump and that it is his responsibility to sentence Trump before his inauguration on January 20.
Only by finalizing this case “will the interests of justice be served,” Marchan wrote.
Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records. They were involved in an alleged scheme to conceal hush money payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of Trump’s first campaign in 2016. The payment was made to prevent her from publicizing claims that she had had sexual relations with the married Trump years earlier. He says her story is wrong and he has done nothing wrong.
Following Trump’s November 5 election, Merchan postponed the proceedings and sentencing indefinitely so the defense and prosecution could consider the future of the case.
Trump’s lawyers urged Merchant to toss it. He said otherwise it would create unconstitutional “interference” with the incoming president’s ability to run the country.
Prosecutors acknowledged that some adjustments must be made to his upcoming presidency, but insisted that the convictions should stand.
They suggested various options, such as freezing the case during his term or guaranteeing he would not be sentenced to jail. They also proposed closing the case, formally noting both his conviction and his pending appeal – a new consideration that some state courts take when criminal defendants die while appealing their cases.
Merchan ruled that Trump’s current status as president-elect does not provide him with the same immunity granted to a sitting president and does not require him to vacate the verdict and dismiss the case – a finding that the judge rejected. Described as “hard” and “rare.”
Doing so would “significantly undermine the rule of law,” Merchan wrote, adding that it also would not address the Supreme Court’s concerns about presidential immunity.
Trump will take office on January 20 as the first former president to be convicted of a crime and the first convicted felon elected to office.
If convicted, the 78-year-old could face fines or sentences ranging from probation to four years in prison.
The case focused on how Trump reimbursed his personal attorney for Daniels’ payments.
The lawyer, Michael Cohen, arranged the money. He later recouped this through a series of payments, which Trump’s company recorded as legal expenses. By then, Trump himself had signed most of the checks in the White House.
Prosecutors said the designation was intended to conceal the true purpose of the payments and help cover up a broader effort to prevent voters from hearing unflattering claims about the Republican during his first campaign.
Trump said Cohen was legitimately paid for legal services, and that Daniels’ story was suppressed to avoid embarrassing Trump’s family, not to influence voters.
Trump was a private citizen – campaigning for president, but neither elected nor sworn in – when Cohen made the payment to Daniels in October 2016. He was President when Cohen was reimbursed, and Cohen testified that he discussed the repayment arrangement in the Oval Office.
Trump, a Republican, has called the verdict the result of a “rigged, disgraceful” “witch hunt” conducted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.
Before Trump’s November election, his lawyers sought to overturn his conviction for a different reason: a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in July that gave presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution. That request was still pending when the election raised new issues.
While urging Marchen to vacate the conviction, Trump also sought to take the case to federal court, where he could also claim immunity. A federal judge repeatedly said no, but Trump appealed.
The hush money case was the only case of Trump’s four criminal impeachments to go to trial.
Since the election, special counsel Jack Smith has dropped his two federal cases. One was related to Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election; Another alleged that he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property.
A separate, state-level election interference case in Georgia remains largely stalled.
