President-Elect Trump Sentenced In Hush Money Case

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The 2024 President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced in his historic hush money case to an unconditional discharge.

With this discharge, it allows Trump to avoid prison, fines, or probation. However, his criminal status states he is a convicted felon just 10 days before he takes the oath of office for his second term. During a brief virtual hearing, New York prosecutors blasted him for engaging in a “direct attack o the rule of law” and making efforts to “undermine its legitimacy” by attacking the judge and others involved in the case.

Trumps defense team, which vowed to appeal, said the case should never have been brought and called it a “sad day for this country.” Judge Juan Merchan, who was a frequent target of Trump during the trial, said the unconditional discharge was the “only lawful sentence” to protect “the office of the president… not the occupant of the office.”

Unconditional discharge under New York State law is a sentence imposed “without imprisonment, fine or probation.” A judge can impose the sentence if the judge “is of the opinion that no proper purpose would be served by imposing any condition upon the defendant’s release.”

Though Merchan could have sentenced Trump to up to four years in prison, he opted to give him the lightest possible sentence to “ensure finality” — including Trump’s right to appeal — while also respecting the principle of presidential immunity, which takes effort of Jan. 20 once Trump becomes president.

President-Elect Trump Sentenced In Hush Money Case was originally published on rnbphilly.com