US President-elect Donald Trump was formally sentenced Friday after being found guilty last year of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to an adult film star, but avoided jail time or fines.
Justice Juan Merchan, who oversaw Trump’s six-week trial in the case last May, handed the incoming president an unconditional discharge, as expected — meaning he will face no additional penalties or conditions under New York state law.
“Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” Merchan said during the sentencing, which went ahead despite last-ditch efforts by Trump’s legal team to overturn or delay his conviction.
Handing down the unusually lenient sentence, Merchan acknowledged that the president-elect’s unprecedented position meant he had been spared harsher penalties. “Donald Trump, the ordinary citizen, Donald Trump, the criminal defendant, would not be entitled to such considerable protections,” he said.
Trump said that the trial had been “a very terrible experience” and that he was “totally innocent.”
With sentencing completed, Trump can appeal, though because the case was overseen by a New York state court rather than a federal one, he will not be able to pardon himself.
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