A judge has ordered US President-elect Donald Trump to be sentenced next week in his hush money case in New York, but suggested he will not be jailed.
In a surprise move, TriumphSentencing in this case was set for January 10, just over a week before his inauguration on January 20.
Judge Juan Merchán, who presided over Trump’s trial, said in a written decision that he would sentence the former and future president to what is known as probation, in which a case is dismissed if a defendant avoids further arrest.
This fact still puts him on track to be the first president to take office convicted of serious crimes.
Triumph He was found guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records.related to an alleged scheme to conceal a payment of money to an adult actress for her silence Stormy Daniel in the final weeks of his first campaign in 2016.
After the November elections, there was pressured to throw out verdict and dismiss the case on the grounds of presidential immunity due to his imminent return to the White House.
Judge Merchán rejected this argument, saying that he found “no legal impediment to handing down the sentence” and that it was “up to him” to do so before taking possession.
However, the judge said: “While this court, as a matter of law, should not make any sentencing determination before giving the parties and the defendants an opportunity to be heard, it seems appropriate at this time to make it known the court’s inclination not to impose any sentence of incarceration, a sentence authorized by conviction but which people admit they no longer consider a viable recommendation.”
Trump has always denied a sexual encounter with Daniels, but was convicted of falsifying business records over a $130,000 (£102,000) payment to allegedly prevent her from going public with her claims in the run-up to the 2016 election.
The president-elect has already managed to get rid of several other cases after his victory over Kamala Harris.
Prosecutors ended two federal cases over alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and claims that he accumulated classified documents at his Florida property.
A separate state case in Georgia, again over allegations of election interference, is largely on hold.
Trump has denied the allegations in all cases.
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