Judge sets January date for Trump sentencing in case
A New York judge, Juan Merchan, has set the date for announcing Donald Trump's sentence for January 10. This concerns the case regarding the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.
Judge Merchan denied Trump's lawyers' request to dismiss the guilty verdict. He stated that there are no legal obstacles to sentencing. The hearing will take place on January 10, ten days before Trump assumes office.
Merchan simultaneously ruled out the possibility of sentencing Trump to prison, which was threatened under the current law. The court does not intend to impose any prison sentence, a penalty permitted by the guilty verdict but no longer considered an executable recommendation, as prosecutors admit, Merchan wrote in the decision.
Consequences for Trump
The court's decision means that Trump will become the first former or sitting president convicted of a crime.
The case concerns the 2016 election campaign, during which Trump allegedly paid Stormy Daniels for her silence about their supposed affair.
In May of last year, a jury found Trump guilty of concealing this fact in financial documents. The sentencing originally scheduled for July was postponed due to the elections and complaints from Trump's lawyers.
Although the law allowed for a prison sentence, experts expected a lighter sentence, such as house arrest. Judge Merchan, however, may choose other forms of punishment.
