The sentence of re-elected US President Donald Trump in the case of paying hush money to the porn actress will be announced on January 10, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA, citing a statement from the judge in the case.
The decision by Judge Juan Mercan means that Trump must appear in court to hear his sentence, just 10 days before his official inauguration ceremony on January 20, which is unprecedented in American history, the agency noted, adding that before Trump, no US president had been either charged with or convicted of a criminal offense.
The judge said that the 78-year-old former and The president-elect should hear his sentencing either in person or online. He wrote that he had no intention of sending Trump to prison and that a “parole” sentence — meaning no jail time, fines or probation — would be the “most realistic option.”
In a statement, Stephen Chung, a spokesman for the re-elected president, said there should be no sentencing in the case. “This wrongful trial should never have been brought and the Constitution requires it to be immediately dismissed,” Chung said.
Judge Mercan announced his plan to issue the sentence after denying Trump’s request to dismiss the case because of his victory in the presidential election. The former and future president's lawyers have argued that if the case hangs over him during his term, it would interfere with his ability to govern. Mercan rejected that argument, saying that overturning the conviction would "immeasurably undermine the rule of law." The case involves a $130,000 payment that Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she claimed she had with him a decade earlier. Trump has denied the charges. In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal the payment. He pleaded not guilty and called the case an attempt by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who brought the charges, to harm his 2024 campaign.
Trump's sentencing was originally scheduled for July 11, 2024, but has been postponed several times. On Thursday, Merchan said that Trump's request in August to postpone the sentencing until after the election meant he had agreed to be sentenced during the transition period.
On December 16, the former and future president lost a separate motion to dismiss the conviction in connection with the US Supreme Court's July 1 ruling that presidents cannot be prosecuted for their official acts and that evidence of their official acts cannot be introduced in criminal cases.
In rejecting the request to dismiss the case, Merchan said at the time that criminal prosecution for “certainly personal acts related to the falsification of business documents do not pose a risk of interference with the power and functions of the executive branch“.
Forgery of commercial documents in the United States is punishable by up to four years in prison, but imprisonment is not mandatory.
In 2023, Trump was also charged in three other state and federal criminal cases: one related to classified documents he kept after leaving office, and two others related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.
He has pleaded not guilty to all three cases. The Justice Department moved to dismiss both federal cases after Trump's election victory.