Trump escapes from prison and faces fines in bribery case

US President-elect Donald Trump has escaped any legal punishment other than a criminal record for his crimes, after a judge on Friday issued an alternative sentence called unconditional release.

Judge Juan Marchand’s ruling spares Trump from any jail time, fines or probation stemming from his conviction, though the ruling bolsters his record as the first convicted felon to occupy the White House.

The incoming president appeared remotely during the session with his lawyer on television screens in the courtroom. Trump took the opportunity to address the court, insisting on his innocence and saying the case was a “tremendous setback” for the justice system.

Trump, who will take office on January 20, said: “I am completely innocent, and I did nothing wrong.”

The president-elect was convicted in May of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to unravel his first presidential campaign in 2016.

Jury She found him guilty on all 34 countsWhich made him the first president to be convicted as a criminal.

Trump, 78, did his best to stop his historic sentence, including by filing an emergency request with the US Supreme Court this week. Late Thursday, the Supreme Court declined to do so, by a narrow 5-4 majority.

Trump’s crimes came with a potential penalty of up to four years in prison and a US$5,000 fine for each count. But lower courts have the power to impose a different sentence if they deem it appropriate, based on all the circumstances of the crime and the offender.

under New York lawa judge can choose unconditional release if he or she does not deem that a prison sentence or probation is in the public’s best interest.

“Unconditional release doesn’t represent anything in terms of punishment,” David Dorfman, a law professor at Pace University in New York, said in an interview with CBC News on Friday.

“You are now forever known as a criminal, but there is essentially no direct consequence to the 34 convictions. The former president and soon-to-be president owes nothing to the courts.”

Dorfman said Merchan adhered to sentencing guidelines. In this case, Trump is a nonviolent first-time offender, convicted of a low-level felony in New York — and imprisoning the president of the United States would be highly impractical.

“I think Judge Merchan would have been tougher on him if he had lost the election,” said Dorfman, who has no connection to the case.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office supports Merchan’s scheduled sentence, District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told the court on Friday.

“The ruling in this case was unanimous and decisive, and must be respected,” Steinglass said.

Trump is free to appeal

With the verdict concluded, Trump is now free to formally appeal the jury’s verdict. He cannot pardon himself because those presidential powers apply only to federal crimes, not those brought at the state level.

The New York case revolves around adult film star Stormy Daniels, who threatened to go public in the middle of Trump’s first presidential campaign about an extramarital encounter between them in 2006.

Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, negotiated a $130,000 bribe to keep Daniels quiet.

Trump refunded him, but Cohen told jurors last spring that the former president hatched a scheme to falsify records and cover up the deal.

In a recent lawsuit to the US Supreme Court to stop the ruling, Trump’s lawyers said that their client is entitled to full immunity due to his election victory on November 5.

He drew the claim On a landmark Supreme Court ruling Last year, which granted former presidents blanket immunity for their official actions.

In denying Trump’s last-minute request to stay his sentencing, five Supreme Court justices said Trump could address his stated issues in the regular appeals course. They also found that the burden the ruling would place on a president-elect’s responsibilities was “relatively insubstantial.”