Donald Trump sentenced with no penalty in New York criminal trial, as judge wishes him ‘Godspeed’ in 2nd term

President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced to parole Friday after being found guilty on charges of falsifying business records stemming from a years-long investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

The president-elect attended the sentencing virtually, after fighting to block the process all the way to the United States Supreme Court this week. Trump sat next to his defense attorney Todd Blanche.

TRUMP FILED REQUEST TO STAY ‘ILLEGAL CONVICTION’ IN NEW YORK CASE

Judge Juan Merchan did not sentence the president-elect to prison, but instead sentenced him to unconditional release, meaning no sentence imposed – no prison, fine or probation. The sentence also preserves Trump’s ability to appeal the conviction.

“After careful analysis, this court has determined that the only lawful sentence that permits a conviction is an unconditional discharge,” Merchan said Friday. “At this point I am imposing that sentence covering all 34 counts.”

Merchan added: “Sir, I wish you a safe journey as you take on your second term.”

Before Judge Juan Merchan announced the sentence, Trump called the case “a huge setback for the American justice system.”

“This is a great shame for the state of New York,” Trump said, adding that the people had seen the trial firsthand and voted “resolutely” for him to be elected president.

Trump said the Department of Justice was “heavily involved” and stressed that a case like this against a former president, candidate, and now president-elect “has never happened before in our country.”

“And I just want to make it clear that I was treated very, very unfairly. And I thank you very much,” Trump said Friday.

Merchan set the date for January 10 – just ten days before he will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

Merchan, when scheduling the verdict last week, said that he was unlikely to “sentence a prison sentence” but rather an “unconditional release”.

During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Merchan said he took the “unusual step” of notifying Trump of his sentence ahead of the proceedings.

“Sentencing is one of the most difficult decisions any criminal court judge is called upon to make,” Merchan said, noting that a court “must consider the facts of the case along with any aggravating or mitigating circumstances.”

Merchan reflected on the case, saying that “never before has this court been faced with such a unique set of circumstances.” The judge said it was an “extraordinary case” with media interest and heightened security, but said that behind closed doors the trial itself was “no more unique or extraordinary” than any other case.

After the sentencing hearing ended, Trump took to his Truth Social platform.

“Radical Democrats have lost another lame, un-American witch hunt. After spending tens of millions of dollars, wasting more than 6 years of obsessive work that should have been spent protecting New Yorkers from the violent, rampant crime that is destroying the city and state, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Illegal Arming Injustice and making completely baseless, illegal and false accusations against your 45th and 47th President, ME, I got an UNCONDITIONAL DISCHARGE,” Trump announced.

Trump said that “that result alone proves that, as all the legal scholars and experts have said, THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE, and this entire fraud fully deserves to be DISMISSED.”

“The real jury, the American people, have had their say, re-electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential elections in history,” Trump continued. “As the American people saw it, there was no crime, no compensation, no evidence, no facts, no law in this ‘case’, just a very conflicted judge, a disenfranchised, disgraced, serial perjurer and criminal choice of Nuisance.”

Trump added: “Today’s event was a despicable charade, and now that it’s over, we will appeal this fraud, which has no merit, and restore American confidence in our once great Justice System. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump filed an appeal with the New York State Court of Appeals to block the sentencing. That court rejected his request.

Trump also filed an emergency motion with the US Supreme Court, claiming it is “immediately ordering a stay of the criminal proceedings pending in the Supreme Court of New York County, New York.”

The high court denied the request, saying that “the motion for adjournment filed with Justice Sotomayor and referred to the court by her is denied, inter alia, for the following reasons.”

TRUMP SAYS HE RESPECTS SUPREME COURT’S DECISION TO REJECT HIS REQUEST TO STOP IMPOSING SENTENCE, PLEDGES TO APPEAL

“First, the alleged evidentiary violations in President-elect Trump’s state court trial may be resolved through the usual appellate process,” the Supreme Court’s order, filed Thursday night, said. “Second, the burden the judgment imposes on the president-elect is relatively insignificant in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of ‘unconditional dismissal’ after a brief virtual hearing.”

The order also stated that “Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh will grant the motion.”

Trump needed five votes for his request to be approved. A note on the order suggests that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with Justices Sonja Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanji Brown Jackson.

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On January 20, Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

Trump maintains his innocence in the case and has repeatedly denounced it as an example of a “law” being pushed by Democrats in an attempt to hurt his election efforts ahead of November.