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The elected president Donald Trump was sentenced to unconditional release Friday after pleading guilty to charges of falsifying business records stemming from a years-long investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The president-elect virtually attended the sentencing 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.
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Trump called the case and his sentence “a colossal failure for the American justice system.”
“This is a huge embarrassment for the state of New York,” Trump said, adding that the people had seen the trial firsthand and voted “strongly” to elect him president.
Judge Juan Mercant made the appointment on January 10 – just ten days before he was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.
Left to right: Judge Juan Mercant, former President Donald Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Getty Images, AP Images)
Merchan did not sentence the president-elect to prison, but instead sentenced him to unconditional release, meaning no punishment is imposed — no jail time, fines or probation. The ruling also preserves Trump’s ability to appeal the verdict.
“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 time I am passing this sentence on all 34 counts.”
Merchan added: “Sir, I wish you well as you enter your second term in office.”
Merchan, scheduled for sentencing last week, said he would likely “not impose a prison sentence” but rather a sentence of “unconditional release,” meaning no sentence.
Trump appealed to the New York State Court of Appeals to block the sentencing. The court rejected his petition.
Trump also filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming that he “immediately orders a stay of the pending criminal proceedings in the Supreme Court of the County of New York, State of New York.”
The high court denied the request, stating that “the application for a stay presented by Judge Sotomayor and directed by her to the court is denied, inter alia, for the following reasons.”
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“First, alleged evidentiary violations during President-elect Trump’s trial in state court may be routinely reviewed on appeal,” the Supreme Court said in a ruling filed Thursday night. “Second, the burden of the sentence would impose relatively insignificant duties on the president-elect in light of the trial court’s stated intent to impose a sentence of unconditional release’ after a brief virtual hearing.”
The order also noted that “Judge Thomas, Judge Alito, Judge Gorsuch and Judge Kavanagh will grant the application.”
The Supreme Court of the United States poses for its official portrait in the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court Building on October 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Trump needed five votes to grant his request. A memo to the order shows that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett voted with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Katanja Brown Jackson.
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Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on January 20.
Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and has repeatedly railed against it as an example of a “law” being promoted by Democrats to hurt his reelection efforts in November.
