Jan. 3 (UPI) — President-elect Donald Trump‘s criminal conviction in his “hush money” case will stand but he likely won’t face any legal penalties under a ruling issued by a New York judge on Friday.
In an 18-page decision, Judge Juan Merchan wrote he was in favor of issuing an “unconditional discharge” of Trump’s pending sentencing for his convictions on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a bid to cover up a sexual encounter with an adult film actress.
Merchan scheduled Trump’s sentencing in the case for Jan. 10 and ruled he could appear virtually rather than in person.
Under an unconditional discharge, any legal punishment would be dropped with no strings attached. That option “appears to be the most viable solution,” he wrote.
“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,” the ruling reads.
However, Merchan turned aside the president-elect’s arguments that the convictions be thrown out due to his re-election in November. That ruling all but ensures that Trump will be the first president to be sworn into office as a convicted felon.
“To dismiss the indictment and set aside the jury verdict would not serve the concerns set forth by the Supreme Court in its handful of cases addressing presidential immunity nor would it serve the rule of law,” Merchan wrote. “On the contrary, such decision would undermine the rule of law in immeasurable ways.”
