Trump can be sentenced in hush cash case on January 10

Donald Trump will be sentenced in the New York criminal case in which he was convicted on criminal charges involving hush money paid to a porn star on Jan. 10, just days before he is set to be inaugurated as president, a judge ruled on Friday.

Justice Juan Merchan denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the case due to his presidential election victory. 

The judge said the Republican president-elect may appear for sentencing either in-person or virtually.

According to reports, Merchan is not inclined to impose a jail sentence on Trump. 

A jury in May found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to pornstar Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election about their extramarital affairs years prior.

Lawyers for Trump argue the case should now be thrown out so it does not get in the way of his ability to govern once he takes his oath of office on January 20, 2025.

They also felt the case should be thrown out due to the Supreme Court’s July ruling claiming the President of the United States has immunity from prosecution for official acts in office.

The case centered on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump for allegedly masterminding efforts to overthrow the 2020 election while in office, including on January 6 in the Capitol riot.

Donald Trump must be sentenced in the criminal case in which he was convicted on criminal charges involving hush money paid to a porn star on Jan. 10

In Trump’s second motion to dismiss the case filed since his May conviction, his defense lawyers argued that having the case hang over him during his presidency would impede his ability to govern. 

Trump’s first motion – which argued the case ran afoul of a Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity – was unsuccessful.

A jury in May found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to pornstar Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet

Merchan determined last month that the evidence presented in the case earlier this year was related ‘entirely to unofficial conduct’ and therefore were not official actions as president.

‘This Court concludes that if error occurred regarding the introduction of the challenged evidence, such error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt,’ Merchan wrote.

‘Even if this Court did find that the disputed evidence constitutes official acts under the auspices of the Trump decision, which it does not, Defendant’s motion is still denied as introduction of the disputed evidence constitutes harmless error and no mode of proceedings error has taken place.’

Trump lashed out in a post on Truth Social in December calling it a ‘completely illegal, psychotic order’ by the ‘corrupt and biased’ judge.

Prosecutors asked a New York judge last week to spare Trump prison time for his hush-money conviction in their new filing. It is an effort to prevent the case from being thrown out altogether.