A judge on Friday sentenced Donald Trump to an unconditional discharge for concealing hush money payments to a porn star despite the US president-elect’s last-minute efforts to avoid becoming the first felon in the White House.
The judge spared Trump from prison or fine even though his May 2024 conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records carried potential jail time.
Instead, New York judge, Juan Merchan, handed down the lightest criminal sanction available – an unconditional discharge, a relatively rare measure.
“Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances. The only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgement of conviction without encroaching on the highest office of the land is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan remarked.
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Trump attended the sentencing virtually as the judge, lawyers and media filled the Manhattan courtroom, the scene of a dramatic trial that included legal wrangling and Trump’s fiery public commentary.
“This has been a terrible experience. I think it’s been a tremendous setback for New York and the New York court system,” Trump said before the discharge was issued.
Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, ahead of sentencing, described Trump’s actions as a “premeditated and continuous deception.”
During the trial, witnesses testified that Trump fraudulently concealed payments to a porn star, Stormy Daniels to prevent her from revealing their alleged affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won.
An unconditional discharge upholds the jury’s guilty verdict without imposing sanctions or restrictions, solidifying Trump’s status as the first former president convicted of a felony.
The 78-year-old could have faced up to four years in prison.
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