Trump gets no jail time or penalties in sentence for hush money conviction
Trump sentenced to unconditional release, meaning he'll face no jail time or penalties
Judge Juan Merchan has sentenced Donald Trump to unconditional discharge.
The sentencing, which was expected, means Trump will remain a felon but faces no jail time, penalties or probation for his conviction in the hush money case.
Trump did not react as Merchan concluded the hearing.
udge Juan Merchan says he need not repeat the aggrevating factors that he has already articulated in his recent orders.
“However the considerable, indeed extraordinary legal protections afforded the office of the chief executive is a factor that overrides all others,” he says.
“They do not reduce the seriousness of the crime or justify its commission in any way,” Merchan says of the legal protections for the office of the presidency.
“One power they do not provide is the power to erase a jury verdict,” Merchan says.
“Ordinary citizens do not receive those legal protections. It is the office of the president that bestows those to the office holder. It is the citizenry of this nation that recently decided that you should once again receive the benefits of those protections,” he says.
