January 11, 2025 12:16am IST
Donald Trump hush money case: Sentencing will put a conviction on his record.
A U.S. judge on Friday sentenced President-elect Donald Trump on a conviction stemming from hush money payments he made to a porn star. The sentence will leave the conviction on his record. But he won’t go to jail or pay any fines.
Donald Trump could have been sentenced to up to four years in prison. But Manhattan Judge Juan M. Marchan chose a ruling that effectively ended the case and avoided a thorny constitutional issue.
The verdict ensures that a Republican becomes the first U.S. president to be convicted of a felony.
The judge said he needed to consider aggravating factors before passing sentence. But he added that the legal protections Trump enjoys as president “are a factor that trumps everything else.”
The judge said legal protections against the president had no power to override the jury’s verdict.
Trump was found guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records. However, the judge handed down unconditional release, the lightest criminal sanction available.
“Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances. He is subject to a conditional discharge,” the judge said.
The president-elect of the United States attended the hearing virtually. He said his conviction was a huge setback for New York and the New York court system.
“This was a very bad experience. I think it was a huge setback for New York and the New York court system,” Trump said.
He said he was convicted in order to lose him the U.S. presidential election.
“I will lose the election because it was done to defame me,” he said.
What is a hush money case?
Trump is accused of falsifying his business records to hide a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. She was paid during President Trump’s 2016 campaign not to publicize sexual encounters that took place a decade earlier.
President Trump has denied any sexual contact.
AP, AFP input available
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