Trump to Be Sentenced in 'Hush Money' Case, but Jail Time Unlikely

Leftist Judge Juan Merchan ruled on Friday that Donald Trump must be sentenced on January 10 in the criminal case related over “hush money” payments made to Stormy Daniels.

However, the judge indicated he is not inclined to impose a jail sentence.

Merchan previously rejected a request from Trump’s attorneys to dismiss charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg last month.

Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records related to alleged hush money payments, which were investigated by the politically charged Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Trump was convicted in a trial widely seen as biased, brought by a partisan prosecutor over a minor bookkeeping issue that is typically not ever brought to trial.

Merchan, a leftist judge with obvious biases, presided over the trial, and the jury was composed largely of anti-Trump Democrats, many of whom appeared determined to thwart his potential return to the White House.

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Merchan clarified that the Republican president-elect could attend the sentencing in person or virtually.

Reuters has more.

Merchan wrote that a sentence of "unconditional discharge" - meaning no custody, monetary fine, or probation - would be "the most viable solution."

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In Trump's second motion to dismiss the case filed since his May conviction, his defense lawyers argued that having the case hang over him during his presidency would impede his ability to govern. Trump's first motion - which argued the case ran afoul of a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity - was unsuccessful.

Trump was initially scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26, but Merchan pushed that back indefinitely after Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election.

According to Reuters, prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office “said there were measures short of the ‘extreme remedy’ of overturning the jury's verdict that could assuage Trump's concerns about being distracted by a criminal case while serving as president.”

They proposed delaying sentencing until after Trump leaves office in 2029 or ensuring that the sentence would not involve prison time. Alternatively, they “also said the judge could simply terminate the case with a notation that Trump was never sentenced and that his conviction was neither affirmed nor reversed on appeal. They said a similar approach was used in cases where a defendant dies after being convicted but before being sentenced.”