president-elect Donald Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge Friday after being found guilty on charges of falsifying business records stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s yearlong investigation.
The president-elect attended his sentencing virtually after fighting to block the trial from reaching the United States Supreme Court this week. Trump sat next to his lawyer Todd Blanche.
TRUMP FILES MOTION TO STOP ‘UNLAWFUL PROSECUTION’ IN NEW YORK CASE
Judge Juan Merchan did not sentence the president-elect to prison, but instead sentenced him to an unconditional discharge, meaning no punishment will be imposed: no jail time, fines or probation. The ruling also preserves Trump’s ability to appeal the conviction.
“After careful analysis, this court has determined that only a lawful sentence that allows for the entry of a conviction is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan said Friday. “At this time, I am imposing that sentence to cover all 34 charges.”
Trump in court on January 10, 2025 (Fox News)
Merchan added, “Sir, I wish you the best of luck in your second term.”
Before Judge Juan Merchan announced the verdict, Trump called the case a “huge setback to the American justice system.”
“This is a great shame for the state of New York,” Trump said, adding that the people saw the process firsthand and voted “decisively” to elect him president.
Trump said the Justice Department was “very committed” and emphasized that a case like this against a former president, candidate and now president-elect “has never happened before in our country.”
“And I just want to explain that I have been treated very, very unfairly. And I thank you very much,” Trump said on Friday.
Merchan set January 10 – just ten days before he will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
From left to right: Judge Juan Merchan, former President Donald Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Getty Images, AP Images)
Merchan said in scheduling sentencing last week that he would likely not impose “any jail time,” but rather a sentence of “unconditional discharge.”
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Merchan said he took the “unusual step” of informing Trump of his sentence ahead of the proceedings.
“Sentencing is one of the most difficult decisions any criminal judge must make,” Merchan said, noting that the court must “consider the facts of the case, along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances.”
Merchan reflected on the case, saying that “never before has this court been confronted with such a unique set of circumstances.” The judge said it was an “extraordinary case” with media interest and increased security, but said once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself was “no more unique or extraordinary” than any other case.
Trump in court on January 10, 2025 (Fox News)
After the sentencing hearing concluded, Trump took to his Truth Social platform.
“The Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, un-American witch hunt. After spending tens of millions of dollars and wasting more than six years of obsessive work that should have been spent protecting New Yorkers from the violent, rampant crime destroying the city and the state, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawlessly weaponizing, and filing completely baseless, illegal and false charges against your 45th and 47th President, ME, I was given an UNCONDITIONAL DISMISSAL,” wrote Trump.
Trump said: “That result alone proves that, as all legal scholars and experts have said, THERE IS NO CASE, THERE NEVER WAS A CASE, and this entire scam completely deserves to be DISMISSED.”
“The real jury, the American people, have spoken by re-electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential elections in history,” Trump continued. “As the American people have seen, this ‘case’ had no crime, no damages, no evidence, no facts, no law, just a very contradictory judge, a key witness who is a suspended, disgraced perjurer and a criminal election killer. Interference.”
Trump added: “Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this hoax, which has no merit, and restore Americans’ faith in our once great justice system. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump has appealed to the New York State Court of Appeals to prevent the conviction from going forward. That court denied his request.
Trump also filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that it would “immediately order a stay of pending criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York.”
The Supreme Court denied the request, saying that “the motion for stay presented to Judge Sotomayor and referred by her to the Court is denied for the following reasons, among others.”
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, January 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“First, the alleged evidentiary violations at the trial of President-elect Trump may be addressed on appeal in the ordinary course,” the Supreme Court order, which was filed Thursday evening, said. will impose on the responsibilities of the President-elect is relatively unimportant in light of the court’s stated intention to impose a penalty of unconditional dismissal after a brief virtual hearing.”
The order also stated that “Judge Thomas, Judge Alito, Judge Gorsuch, and Judge Kavanaugh would grant the request.”
The Supreme Court of the United States poses for their 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 get his request granted. The note accompanying the order suggests that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
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 protested it as an example of “litigation” being promoted by Democrats in an effort to damage his election efforts ahead of November.
