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New York, United States of America (USA)
Former US President Donald Trump attends his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs with Stormy Daniels, at a court in New York City. (Reuters)
Trump’s sentencing for falsifying business records will take place on July 11, just days ahead of the Republican convention where Trump is expected to be named the party’s presidential nominee.
A New York jury convicted Donald Trump on all charges in his hush money case on Thursday, making him the first former US president to be convicted of a crime.
The seismic development comes barely five months ahead of the election where Trump seeks to recapture the White House.
The New York judge who presided over Donald Trump’s hush money trial thanked the jury on Thursday for their service and giving the case the “attention it deserved.”
“You were engaged in a difficult and stressful task,” Judge Juan Merchan said after the jury convicted the former US president of 34 counts of falsifying business records. “You gave this matter the attention it deserved.”
Meanwhile, the former president said the “real verdict” would be the US election in November.
COULD TRUMP STILL FIGHT POLLS AND BE PRESIDENT?
Trump’s sentencing for falsifying business records will take place on July 11, just days ahead of the Republican convention where Trump is expected to be named the party’s presidential nominee. According to the law, the verdict does not stop him from campaigning or fighting polls. The US Constitution only requires that presidents be at least 35 years old and natural-born US citizens who have lived in the country for 14 years.
WHAT NEXT?
The judge presiding over the case, Juan Merchan, must first approve the verdict and enter a final judgment, though this is typically a formality.
Criminal defendants in New York are typically sentenced within several weeks of conviction, but post-verdict legal wrangling can sometimes lead to months of delays. In the meantime, lawyers and prosecutors will recommend sentences and then argue over them at Trump’s sentencing hearing, where Merchan will make a decision.
WILL TRUMP GO TO PRISON?
Imprisonment is unlikely in Trump’s case. The maximum sentence for Trump’s crime of falsifying business records is 1-1/3 to four years in prison.
It is rare for people with no criminal history who are convicted only of falsification of business records to be sentenced to prison in New York. Punishments like fines or probation are more common.
Defendants convicted of falsifying business records who get sentenced to time behind bars typically serve a year or less, and even in those cases most were convicted of other crimes such as fraud or grand larceny – unlike Trump.
If punished beyond a fine, Trump could be placed under home confinement or subject to a curfew rather than imprisoned.
As a former president, he has a lifetime Secret Service detail, and the logistics of keeping him safe behind bars could be complicated.
Trump could also be released on bail while appealing his conviction.
(With agency inputs)
