President-elect Donald Trump appears remotely for a sentencing hearing in front of New York State Judge Juan Merchan in his hush money case at New York Criminal Court in New York City, on Jan. 10, 2025.
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Pool
President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced in his New York hush money case on Friday but received no punishment from Judge Juan M. Merchan, who issued an unconditional discharge with no jail time, probation, or fines. The case’s ruling involved 34 counts for falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels, making Trump the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes.
Trump appeared virtually from Florida for the sentencing, maintaining his innocence and calling the case a “political witch hunt.”
Which case was this one again? It centered on payments made to Daniels to prevent her from discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Trump before the 2016 election. Trump denies any encounter occurred and claims the payments were legitimate legal expenses.
Why was he given a no-punishment verdict? Judge Merchan explained that the immunity protections Trump will have once he becomes president in 10 days “is a factor that overrides all others,” though he emphasized that these protections “do not erase a jury verdict.”
Notably, this was the only one of Trump’s four criminal indictments to go to trial. The other cases, including federal prosecutions by special counsel Jack Smith and a Georgia election interference case, have either been closed or stalled following Trump's election victory.