Trump receives unconditional discharge after hush money cover-up conviction
Attorney Todd Blanche (L) and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, seen on a television screen, appear virtually for sentencing after Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts in his hush money criminal trial last year, at the Manhattan criminal court in New York, U.S. on Jan. 10, 2025. (AFP Photo)
A New York judge sentenced President-elect Donald Trump to an unconditional discharge Friday, following his conviction for covering up hush money payments to an adult film actress. The ruling comes despite Trump’s last-minute efforts to avoid becoming the first felon to assume the White House.
Judge Juan Merchan spared Trump prison time or fines, even though he was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in May 2024, charges that carried potential jail time. Instead, Merchan delivered the lightest possible sentence—a relatively rare unconditional discharge.
“Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” Merchan said. “The only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgment of conviction without encroaching on the highest office of the land is an unconditional discharge.”
Trump attended the sentencing virtually, with the judge, lawyers, and media present in the Manhattan courtroom, which had been the stage for the trial’s intense legal battles and personal attacks.
‘Very terrible experience’
“This has been a very terrible experience,” Trump said before the sentence was announced. “I think it’s been a tremendous setback for New York and the New York court system. It was done to damage my reputation, so I would lose the election.”
Appearing on screens with two large U.S. flags behind him, Trump wore a red-striped tie and looked on impatiently during the brief proceedings.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said Trump had been convicted of “premeditated and continuous deception” and stressed that the unanimous jury verdict must be respected.
The trial saw multiple witnesses testify that Trump had fraudulently concealed illicit payments to Stormy Daniels to prevent her from disclosing their affair before the 2016 election, which Trump won.
Trump’s legal team had sought to delay the sentencing, but the Supreme Court allowed it to proceed after a New York State appeals court dismissed his attempt to postpone the hearing.
Prosecutors opposed the suspension of sentencing, arguing that delaying it was inappropriate when Trump still had other avenues of appeal in New York.
First president to be convicted of felony
The unconditional discharge does not carry sanctions but upholds the jury’s guilty verdict, making Trump the first U.S. president convicted of a felony. Trump, 78, could have faced up to four years in prison.
Pace University law professor and former prosecutor Bennett Gershman criticized the ruling, saying, “He’s sticking his middle finger at the judge, the jury, the system of justice, and laughing.”
Outside the courthouse, Trump supporters gathered with a large banner, while a small group of anti-Trump demonstrators held a vigil with a sign reading “Trump is guilty.”
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, disagreed with the prosecution’s arguments, but the judge allowed the sentencing to proceed.
Earlier in the week, Trump was officially certified as the winner of the 2024 election, four years after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as he attempted to overturn his 2020 defeat.
