President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced on Friday to an “unconditional discharge” by New York Judge Juan Merchan after being convicted for falsifying business records in a case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
According to NBC News, Merchan’s decision to sentence Trump with an “unconditional discharge” allows the 34-count conviction of the president-elect to stand with no additional penalties. The outlet noted that Friday’s action by the New York judge makes Trump the first former U.S. president to have been sentenced for a criminal conviction.
“After careful analysis, this court determined only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan said. “At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts.”
During Friday’s virtual sentencing, Merchan told Trump, “Sir, I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office.”
Fox News reported that prior to Merchan announcing the sentence against the president-elect, Trump, who appeared virtually alongside his defense attorney Todd Blanche, described the New York case as a “tremendous setback for the American court system.” Trump added, “This is a great embarrassment to the state of New York.” The president-elect also claimed that he was “treated very, very unfairly” throughout the case.
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In a post on Truth Social following Friday’s sentencing, Trump wrote, “The Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt. After spending tens of millions of dollars, wasting over 6 years of obsessive work that should have been spent on protecting New Yorkers from violent, rampant crime that is destroying the City and State, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawless Weaponization, and bringing completely baseless, illegal, and fake charges against your 45th and 47th President, ME, I was given an UNCONDITIONAL DISCHARGE.”
Trump claimed that Friday’s sentencing of “unconditional discharge” proves that “THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE, and this whole Scam fully deserves to be DISMISSED.”
The president-elect explained that the American people, whom he described as “the real Jury,” made their voice heard in the 2024 election by giving him an “overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History.”
“Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice,” Trump added. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
