by Ben Whedon
Justice Juan Merchan on Friday rejected President-elect Donald Trump’s bid to toss out his conviction in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s hush money case.
Trump faces sentencing on Jan. 10, Reuters reported, though the judge hinted he was unlikely to impose jail time. Trump was convicted last year on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a 2016 payment his then-attorney, Michael Cohen.
The president-elect has maintained he is innocent of wrongdoing and insisted the case was politically motivated.
Merchan signaled in his ruling that he was open to a conditional discharge, a move in which he would sentence Trump but dismiss the case should he avoid rearrest, NBC New York reported.
“While this Court as a matter of law must not make any determination on sentencing prior to giving the parties and Defendants, opportunity to be heard, it seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court’s inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration, a sentence authorized by the conviction but one the People concede they no longer view as a practicable recommendation,” Merchan wrote.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News.
