The president-elect of the United States Donald Trump has escaped any legal punishment without a criminal record for his crimes, after a judge on Friday gave him another sentence called an unconditional release.
Judge Juan Marchan’s ruling spares Trump any jail time, fines or disciplinary action for his conviction, although the sentence cements his record as the first convicted felon to occupy the White House.
The incoming president appeared remotely during the trial with his lawyer on television in the courtroom. Taking his opportunity to address the court, Trump insisted he was innocent and said the case was a “tremendous setback” for the justice system.
“I’m completely innocent, I’ve done nothing wrong,” said Trump, who takes office on January 20.
The president-elect was convicted in May on charges of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to erupt during his first presidential campaign in 2016.
A jury found him guilty on all 34 counts, making him the first president to be found guilty.
Trump, 78, has fought hard to stop his landmark sentence, including an emergency appeal to the US Supreme Court this week. Late Thursday, the high court declined to do so, by a narrow 5-4 majority.
Trump’s charges come with up to four years in prison and a $5,000 US fine for each count. But trial courts have the power to impose a different sentence if they see fit, based on all the circumstances of the case and the criminal.
Under New York law, a judge can choose an unconditional release if he doesn’t see jail time or probation as being in the public interest.
“Unconditional release is nothing in terms of punishment,” David Dorfman, a law professor at Pace University in New York, told CBC News in an interview Friday.
“Now he is forever known as a thief, but in fact there is no direct result in the conviction of 34 cases. The former president and soon he owes nothing to the courts.”
Former US president Donald Trump was found guilty in his hush money case in New York. CBC’s Anya Zoledziowski analyzes the key evidence and witnesses that led the jury to the historic verdict.
Dorfman said Merchan was bound by the sentencing guidelines. In this case, Trump is the first, non-violent person to be convicted of a very low-level crime in New York – and imprisoning the president of the United States would be highly unlikely.
“I think Judge Merchan would have been tough on him if he had lost the election,” said Dorfman, who is not connected to the case.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told the court Friday that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office supports Merchan’s sentence.
“The decision in this case was unanimous and final, it must be respected,” said Steinglass.
Trump is free to appeal
With the sentence over, Trump is now free to formally challenge the judge’s decision. He cannot pardon himself because that presidential power only applies to criminal cases, not those brought at the federal level.
The New York case was about sex star Stormy Daniels, who threatened to go public during Trump’s first presidential campaign about their extramarital affair in 2006.
Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, negotiated a $130,000 cash payment to silence Daniels.
Trump took him back, but Cohen told jurors last spring that the former president orchestrated a scheme to falsify records and cover up the deal.
In a final letter to the US Supreme Court to suspend the sentence, Trump’s lawyers said their client was entitled to full immunity because of his election victory on November 5.
The claim follows a landmark Supreme Court decision last year that granted former presidents immunity from legal action.
In denying Trump’s last-minute request to stay his sentence, five Supreme Court justices said Trump could fix the problems he cited during the appeal. They also found that a responsible conviction would place responsibility on the president-elect “relatively insignificant.”
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