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President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday to an unconditional discharge in a New York state case involving falsified business records. The ruling, delivered by Judge Juan Merchan, makes Trump a convicted felon under state law but imposes no further penalties, a move tailored to respect his imminent inauguration as the 47th president of the United States.
“This has been a very terrible experience,” Trump said remotely from his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida. “It was done to damage my reputation so I would lose the election. I am totally innocent.”
The case stems from allegations that Trump falsified business records to conceal hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. A jury unanimously found him guilty of 34 felony counts in May, making him the first U.S. president—current or former—to be convicted of criminal charges.
“This has been a truly extraordinary case,” Judge Merchan remarked during sentencing. He cited the unique circumstances of Trump’s impending presidency and the legal protections it entails as reasons for the conditional leniency.
Merchan noted that while Trump’s status as president-elect influenced the sentence, it did not absolve the gravity of the charges. “To vacate this verdict… would constitute a disproportionate result and cause immeasurable damage to the citizenry’s confidence in the Rule of Law,” he wrote in a prior ruling.
Prosecutors recommended the sentence, acknowledging the complications of enforcing harsher penalties against a sitting president. “We must be respectful of the office of the presidency,” said prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, while criticizing Trump for his attacks on the judiciary and the legal process.
Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, condemned the case as politically motivated. “This is a sad day for President Trump and for the country,” he said, adding that Trump plans to appeal.
The sentencing caps a contentious legal battle that included multiple appeals to state and federal courts. On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block the proceedings in a 5-4 decision.
While Trump celebrated the light sentence, calling it proof of his innocence on his social media platform Truth Social, Merchan criticized his repeated violations of a partial gag order and his public disdain for the judiciary.
Trump’s conviction adds another historic layer to his political legacy. As he prepares to take the oath of office for a nonconsecutive term, he does so as the only U.S. president to have been convicted of a crime before entering or re-entering the White House.
