Donald Trump is set to be sentenced on January 10 in a criminal case where he was convicted of paying hush money to a porn star and falsifying business records, according to a ruling by a New York judge on Friday (local time).
Judge Juan Merchan, upholding Trump’s conviction, stated that the former president would face no legal penalties in the case, CNN reported.
Merchan scheduled the sentencing for January 10 but indicated that the legal proceedings in this case are effectively concluded. Trump had sought to overturn the jury’s verdict, citing his reelection in November, CNN noted.
The judge, in his ruling, explained that imposing no penalty would bring “finality” to the case while allowing Trump to continue appealing the conviction.
“A sentence of an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality and allow Defendant to pursue his appellate options,” Merchan wrote.
Merchan also stated that Trump could attend the sentencing virtually to address concerns about the “mental and physical demands during this transition period” as president-elect.
“It was a smart move by Judge Merchan to announce in advance that he is going to impose no punishment, and hold the proceeding remotely because that undermines any effort by Trump’s team to argue in federal court that sentencing imposes some major burden,” CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said.
Trump was convicted in May of last year on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The charges stemmed from a hush money payment made by his former attorney Michael Cohen to porn actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to prevent her from publicizing her claim of an alleged affair with Trump.
Trump has denied the affair and vowed to appeal the guilty verdict, which marked a historic moment as he became the first U.S. president in history to be convicted of a felony.
