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Donald Trump could soon become the first American president in history to serve time in prison after a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 felony counts in his hush money trial.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee faced charges of falsifying business records 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. Trump denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to all charges in the case.
The jury deliberated for roughly nine and a half hours before reaching their decision on Thursday afternoon — just minutes before Judge Juan Merchan was set to dismiss them.
Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for 11 July, just four days before the Republican National Convention (RNC), where delegates will almost certainly make him the official GOP candidate for president.
Both sides can file motions in the case until 13 June.
Ms Daniels, her former lawyer Keith Davidson, 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.
The 34 charges were “stepped up” from misdemeanors to class E felonies because prosecutors said the crimes were carried out in an effort to commit or conceal another crime – these crimes being election conspiracy and campaign finance and tax law violations.
Trump could theoretically face more than a decade in prison, according to CNN chief legal analyst Laura Coates.
Under New York state law, the maximum prison sentence for a Class E felony is four years in prison. 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 Trump has no prior criminal record and the crimes are non-violent in nature, it is likely he will face no jail time.
Instead, New York Justice Juan Merchan could impose other penalties such as fines, probation or conditional discharge in lieu of jail time.
The bigger questions surrounding the hypothetical incarceration of Trump is what kind of Secret Service detail he might receive as the first former president-turned-inmate.
As the former president campaigns in the wake of this conviction, he is also battling three other criminal indictments in Florida, Washington DC and Georgia.
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