President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his , but the judge declined to impose any punishment, an outcome that cements his conviction while freeing him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine.
The punishment-free judgement marks a quiet end to an extraordinary case that for the first time put a former president and major presidential candidate in a courtroom as a criminal defendant. The case was the only one of four criminal indictments that has gone to trial and possibly the only one that ever will.
Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan could have sentenced the 78-year-old Republican to up to four years in prison. Instead, he chose a sentence that sidestepped thorny constitutional issues by effectively ending the case but assured that Trump will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency.
Unlike his trial last year, when Trump brought allies to the courthouse and addressed waiting reporters outside the courthouse, the former president did not appear in person Friday, instead making a brief virtual appearance from his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump, wearing a dark suit and seated next to one of his lawyers with an American flag in the background, appeared on a video screen as he again insisted he did not commit a crime.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 been a political witch hunt. It was done to damage my reputation so that I would lose the election, and obviously, that didn91裸聊视频檛 work,91裸聊视频� Trump said.
Trump called the case 91裸聊视频渁 weaponization of government91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频渁n embarrassment to New York.91裸聊视频�
Trump91裸聊视频檚 sentence of an unconditional discharge caps a norm-smashing case that , put on and convicted by a jury on every count. Yet, the legal detour 91裸聊视频� and sordid details aired in court of a plot to bury affair allegations 91裸聊视频� didn91裸聊视频檛 hurt him with voters, who elected him to a second term.
Merchan said that like when facing any other defendant, he must consider any aggravating factors before imposing a sentence, but the legal protection that Trump will have as president 91裸聊视频渋s a factor that overrides all others.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淒espite the extraordinary breadth of those legal protections, one power they do not provide is that they do not erase a jury verdict,91裸聊视频� Merchan said.
Trump, briefly addressing the court by video, said his criminal trial and conviction have 91裸聊视频渂een a very terrible experience91裸聊视频� and insisted he committed no crime.
Before Friday91裸聊视频檚 hearing, Merchan had , called an unconditional discharge, which meant no jail time, no probation and no fines would be imposed.
Prosecutors said Friday that they supported a no-penalty sentence, but they chided Trump91裸聊视频檚 attacks on the legal system throughout and after the case.
91裸聊视频淭he once and future President of the United States has engaged in a coordinated campaign to undermine its legitimacy,91裸聊视频� prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said.
Rather than show remorse, Trump has 91裸聊视频渂red disdain91裸聊视频� for the jury verdict and the criminal justice system, Steinglass said, and his calls for retaliation against those involved in the case, including calling for the judge to be disbarred, 91裸聊视频渉as caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has put officers of the court in harm91裸聊视频檚 way.91裸聊视频�
As he appeared from his Mar-a-Lago home, the former president was seated with his lawyer Todd Blanche, whom he91裸聊视频檚 tapped to serve as the second-highest ranking Justice Department official in his incoming administration.
91裸聊视频淭he American voters got a chance to see and decide for themselves whether this was the kind of case that should91裸聊视频檝e been brought. And they decided,91裸聊视频� Blanche said. 91裸聊视频淎nd that91裸聊视频檚 why in 10 days President Trump is going to assume the office of the president of the United States.91裸聊视频�
Before the hearing, a handful of Trump supporters and critics gathered outside. One group held a banner that read, 91裸聊视频淭rump is guilty.91裸聊视频� The other held one that said, 91裸聊视频淪top partisan conspiracy91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淪top political witch hunt.91裸聊视频�
The hush money case to veil a $130,000 payoff to porn actor Stormy Daniels. She was paid, late in Trump91裸聊视频檚 2016 campaign, not to tell the public about a sexual encounter the two had a decade earlier. He says nothing sexual happened between them, and he contends that his political adversaries spun up a bogus prosecution to try to damage him.
91裸聊视频淚 never falsified business records. It is a fake, made up charge,91裸聊视频� the Republican president-elect wrote on his Truth Social platform last week. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office brought the charges, is a Democrat.
Bragg91裸聊视频檚 office said in a court filing Monday that Trump committed 91裸聊视频渟erious offenses that caused extensive harm to the sanctity of the electoral process and to the integrity of New York91裸聊视频檚 financial marketplace.91裸聊视频�
While the specific charges were about checks and ledgers, the underlying accusations were seamy and deeply entangled with Trump91裸聊视频檚 political rise. Prosecutors said Daniels was paid off 91裸聊视频� at the time, Michael Cohen 91裸聊视频� as part of to keep voters from hearing about Trump91裸聊视频檚 alleged extramarital escapades.
Trump denies the alleged encounters occurred. His lawyers said he wanted to squelch the stories to protect his family, not his campaign. And while prosecutors said Cohen91裸聊视频檚 reimbursements for paying Daniels were deceptively logged as legal expenses, Trump says that91裸聊视频檚 simply what they were.
91裸聊视频淭here was nothing else it could have been called,91裸聊视频� he wrote on Truth Social last week, adding, 91裸聊视频淚 was hiding nothing.91裸聊视频�
Trump91裸聊视频檚 lawyers tried unsuccessfully to forestall a trial. Since his May conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records, they have pulled virtually every legal lever within reach to try to get the conviction overturned, the case dismissed or at least the sentencing postponed.
The Trump attorneys have leaned heavily into assertions of presidential immunity from prosecution, and they got a boost in July from that affords former commanders-in-chief considerable immunity.
Trump was a private citizen and presidential candidate when Daniels was paid in 2016. He was president when the reimbursements to Cohen were made and recorded the following year.
Merchan, a Democrat, repeatedly postponed the sentencing, initially set for July. But last week, he , citing a need for 91裸聊视频渇inality.91裸聊视频� He wrote that he strove to balance Trump91裸聊视频檚 need to govern, the Supreme Court91裸聊视频檚 immunity ruling, the respect due a jury verdict and the public91裸聊视频檚 expectation that 91裸聊视频渘o one is above the law.91裸聊视频�
Trump91裸聊视频檚 lawyers then launched a flurry of last-minute efforts to block the sentencing. Their last hope vanished Thursday night with a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling that declined to delay the sentencing.
Meanwhile, the other criminal cases that once loomed over Trump have ended or stalled ahead of trial.
After Trump91裸聊视频檚 election, special counsel Jack Smith over Trump91裸聊视频檚 handling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. A state-level is locked in uncertainty after from it.
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Follow the AP91裸聊视频檚 coverage of President-elect Donald Trump at .
Michael R. Sisak, Jennifer Peltz, Jake Offenhartz And Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press
