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Donald Trump convicted without penalty in New York criminal trial, as judge wishes him ‘Godspeed’ in second term


elected president donald trump was sentenced Friday to an unconditional discharge after pleading guilty to charges of falsifying business records stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s years-long investigation.

The president-elect attended his sentencing virtually, after fighting to block the process all the way to the United States. Supreme Court this week Trump sat next to his defense attorney Todd Blanche.

TRUMP FILES MOTION TO FOLLOW ‘ILLEGAL JUDGMENT’ IN NEW YORK CASE

Trump called the case and his sentence “a tremendous setback for the American judicial system.”

“This is a great shame for the state of New York,” Trump said, adding that the people saw the trial firsthand and voted “decisively” to elect him president.

Judge Juan Merchan set the date for January 10, just ten days before he was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

Juan Merchan, Donald Trump, Alvin Bragg

From left to right: Judge Juan Merchan, former President Donald Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Getty Images, AP Images)

Merchan did not sentence the president-elect to prison, but instead sentenced him to an unconditional discharge, meaning no punishment imposed, no jail time, fines or probation. The ruling also preserves Trump’s ability to appeal the conviction.

“After careful analysis, this court determined that the only statutory sentence permitting entry of the judgment of conviction is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan said Friday. “At this point, he imposes this sentence to cover all 34 charges.”

Merchan added: “Sir, I wish you the best of luck as you take on your second term.”

Merchan, in scheduling sentencing last week, said it was not likely he would “impose any custodial sentence” but an “unconditional dismissal” sentence, meaning no punishment would be imposed.

Trump filed an appeal to block the ruling from moving forward with the New York State Court of Appeals. This court denied his request.

Trump also filed an emergency motion with the United States Supreme Court, arguing that he “immediately seeks a stay of the criminal proceedings pending in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York.”

The high court denied the request, saying that “the request for suspension presented to Judge Sotomayor and referred by her to the High Court is denied, among others, for the following reasons.”

Trump sea-to-lake

President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

TRUMP SAYS HE RESPECTS SUPREME COURT’S DECISION TO DENY HIS REQUEST TO STOP CONVICTION, PROMISES TO RECOVER

“First, the alleged evidentiary violations in President-elect Trump’s trial in state court may be addressed in the ordinary course on appeal,” the order states, states the Supreme Court order, filed Thursday night.” Second, the burden of the sentence. will impose on the president-elect’s responsibilities is relatively insubstantial in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a judgment of unconditional discharge’ after a brief virtual hearing.”

The order also noted that “Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh would accept the request.”

Magistrates of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States poses for its official portrait in the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building on October 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump needed five votes to grant his request. The order memo suggests that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson.

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Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on January 20.

Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and has repeatedly criticized it as an example of a “law” pushed by Democrats in an effort to hurt their election efforts before November.



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