What prison sentence could Trump face if he is convicted at his hush money trial?

Donald Trump could soon became the first American president in history to serve time in prison as the jury prepares to weigh his fate in the New York hush money trial.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in order to conceal a secret $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential campaign, in order to ensure her silence over an alleged affair in 2006.

Mr Trump denies the affair and has pleaded not guilty to all charges in the case.

Ms Daniels, her former lawyer Keith Davidson, Mr Trump’s former “fixer” turned arch nemesis Michael Cohen, ex-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and former Trump White House aides Hope Hicks and Madeleine Westerhout all took the stand to testify in the trial.

Both sides have now rested, with closing arguments set for next week before the jury begins its deliberations.

A key question for them to consider will be whether the misdemeanour offences with which the defendant has been charged (the falsification of business records) can be elevated to more serious felony status in connection with another crime (election interference), as the prosecution has argued.

Should Mr Trump be found guilty of misdemeanour crimes only, he could still be sentenced to jail time (albeit less than a year in prison), fines or probation.

Should he be found guilty of felony crimes, however, he could theoretically face more than a decade in prison, according to CNN chief legal analyst Laura Coates.

The maximum sentence for each Class E felony count against him is four years in prison, which would add up to 136 years behind bars, but as Ms Coates explains, New York imposes a 20-year sentencing cap for this type of offence, with a decision on whether the sentences run concurrently or consecutively left up to the judge.

Given that Mr Trump also has no prior criminal record and the crimes of which he stands accused are non-violent in nature, Judge Juan Merchan could ultimately incline towards leniency and only sentence him to a fraction of the maximum jail time allowed.

Alternatively, the justice could simply choose to place him on probation, with the threat of imprisonment hanging over the defendant in the event that he does not abide by any conditions that are ultimately imposed upon him.

The bigger questions surrounding the hypothetical incarceration of Mr Trump is what kind of Secret Service detail (if any) he might receive for his protection as a former president and an inmate and what would happen if he were to be convicted of a crime but go on to win November’s presidential election nonetheless.

In addition to trying to win a belated second term in the White House, the 45th president is also battling three other criminal indictments in Florida, Washington DC and Georgia and is appealing two further judgements against him in New York that recently required him to post multi-million dollar bonds.

So far, Mr Trump’s tactic of trying to delay those cases to ensure he faces no further trials before November’s election appears to be working, with no further dates set in stone and much riding on the US Supreme Court’s eventual ruling on the candidate’s “presidential immunity” defense against prosecution.

The hush money trial is currently entering its final stages, with both the prosecution and defense having wrapped up their respective cases and closing arguments due to be heard on Tuesday 28 May after the Memorial Day weekend, with a verdict possible as soon as the end of that week.

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