FILE PHOTO: President-elect Donald Trump arrives on New Year’s Eve at his Mar-A-Lago club on December 31, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump continues to fill posts in his upcoming administration ahead of his January 20 inauguration. (Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via Agence France-Presse)
NEW YORK, United States — A New York judge on Monday rejected US President-elect Donald Trump’s request to delay sentencing set for later this week in his hush money case.
hot slotsJudge Juan Merchan ruled last week that Trump’s sentencing should go ahead on Friday despite his upcoming inauguration, rejecting his attorney’s argument that his election victory should spell an end to the case.
Article continues after this advertisementMerchan, in a two-page decision, noted that prosecutors had opposed delaying the sentencing and said it should go ahead as planned barring a last-minute successful appeal by Trump to a higher court.
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“Defendant’s motion for a stay of these proceedings, including the sentencing hearing scheduled for January 10, 2025, is hereby DENIED,” the judge added.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: Judge sets Trump’s sentencing in hush money case for Jan. 10, but signals no jail time
Article continues after this advertisementMerchan has given Trump, the first former president ever convicted of a crime, the option of appearing either in person or virtually at Friday’s sentencing and has said he was not inclined to impose jail time on the former and future president.
Article continues after this advertisementTrump’s attorneys had asked the judge to delay sentencing while they appeal his conviction by a Manhattan jury.
He was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to stop her from revealing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.
Article continues after this advertisementTrump was certified as the winner of the 2024 presidential election on Monday, four years after his supporters rioted at the US Capitol as he sought to overturn his 2020 defeat. He is to be sworn in as president on January 20.
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Trump’s attorneys had sought to have the case dismissed on multiple grounds, including the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last year that former US presidents have sweeping immunity from prosecution for a range of official acts committed while in office.
In an 18-page decision last week, Merchan rejected the motions but noted that Trump will be immune from prosecution once he is sworn in as president.
READ: Donald Trump’s hush money trial conviction: What you should know
He said he was leaning towards giving Trump an unconditional discharge – meaning the New York real estate tycoon would not only avoid the threat of jail, but would escape conditions of any kind.
The sentence would nevertheless see Trump entering the White House as a convicted felon.
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The 78-year-old Trump potentially faced up to four years in prison but legal experts – even before he won the November presidential election – did not expect Merchan to incarcerate him.una game
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