A Donald Trump Sentence Is Here—But He Faces No Punishment

Forbes

President-elect Donald Trump became the first-ever former or sitting president to be formally convicted of a felony Friday as he was sentenced in his hush money criminal case—but the president-elect was not given any penalties for his crimes.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/01/10/trump-not-sentenced-to-any-punishments-in-hush-money-criminal-case/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00President Donald Trump became the first-ever former or sitting president

00:05to be formally convicted of a felony Friday,

00:07as he was sentenced in his hush-money criminal case.

00:10But the president-elect was not given any penalties for his crimes.

00:15Judge Juan Merchant gave Trump an unconditional discharge,

00:19meaning his conviction stands but he won't face any penalties,

00:23after Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records,

00:29letting the president-elect walk free without any punishments.

00:33The sentence falls far short of the maximum penalties that Trump could have faced,

00:37as each of his 34 counts was punishable by up to four years in prison

00:42and or a maximum $5,000 fine,

00:45meaning the harshest sentence could have seen Trump imprisoned for the rest of his life,

00:49though that was always unlikely to happen.

00:52Trump attended the sentencing virtually and continued to deny any wrongdoing

00:57in a statement he read during the proceeding,

00:59saying the prosecution against him has been a, quote,

01:02very terrible experience and a, quote,

01:04setback for New York's judicial system,

01:07and claiming he's, quote,

01:09totally innocent and, quote,

01:10did nothing wrong.

01:13The judge explained his decision for the lenient sentence on Friday,

01:16saying the office of the presidency shields Trump from facing harsher punishment,

01:21but noting being president, quote,

01:24does not have the power to erase a jury verdict.

01:27With his sentencing, Trump can now be formally classified as a convicted felon,

01:32as the Justice Department notes being sentenced is necessary for a conviction.

01:37Convicted felons face a number of restrictions,

01:40and Trump will not be able to do things like own a firearm or hold state public office.

01:46Most notably for the president-elect,

01:48felons face a number of international travel restrictions,

01:51as more than a dozen countries, including Canada, Australia, and China,

01:56bar convicted felons from entering.

01:59That could mean Trump will have to get special permission to travel there as president.

02:04For more information on this story,

02:06read Alison Durkee's article linked in the description.

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