Trump not expected to go to jail in hush money sentencing

By Casey Harper
The Center Square

A federal judge has set President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing in the hush money case for Jan. 10, just 10 days before the presidential inauguration.

Trump, however, is expected to receive a sentence of "unconditional discharge" and be released.

As The Center Square previously reported, a Manhattan jury convicted Trump of 34 counts of falsifying business records after he categorized hush money payments to a porn star as legal expenses as part of his 2016 campaign.

Judge Juan Merchan tipped his hand in the ruling, saying it is "the court's inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration" since the American people elected Trump anyway.

"While this Court as a matter of law must not make any determination on sentencing prior to giving the parties and Defendant an opportunity to be heard, it seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration, a sentence authorized by the conviction but one the People concede they no longer view as a practicable recommendation,” Merchan said in the ruling.

The decision comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that presidents have some immunity for official actions taken while in office, though the extent of that immunity has not yet been fully tested.

"The preserved claims relate entirely to unofficial conduct and thus, receive no immunity protections," Merchan wrote previously, which means Trump’s conviction remains intact, at least for now.