In May, Donald J. Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of a crime when a Manhattan jury found him guilty of 34 felonies.
Now, another unprecedented moment is expected Friday: Mr. Trump will become the first former, and future, president to be sentenced for a crime.
Justice Juan M. Merchan of Manhattan Supreme Court has indicated that he plans to give Mr. Trump an unconditional discharge, a lenient sentence that is rare for defendants convicted in Manhattan on the same charges as Mr. Trump. Here are some answers to key questions about his sentencing:
What crimes was he convicted of?
Mr. Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges stem from a $130,000 hush-money payment that Mr. Trump’s fixer, Michael D. Cohen, made to the porn star Stormy Daniels in the days leading up to the 2016 election, suppressing a story of a sexual liaison that she said she had with Mr. Trump.
Prosecutors argued that Mr. Trump had directed Mr. Cohen to make the payment — and had then covered it up through a series of reimbursements falsely classified as ordinary legal expenses. Each of the 34 counts corresponds to an invoice, check or ledger related to these repayments.
Who is the judge sentencing Trump?
Justice Merchan is a veteran Manhattan judge who is known to be tough on white-collar crimes. During the trial, the drama-averse judge was the subject of repeat attacks by Mr. Trump, who accused him of being “biased” and “corrupt.”
At the request of prosecutors, the judge imposed a gag order prohibiting Mr. Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and jurors. And when Mr. Trump expanded his attacks to include Justice Merchan’s daughter, a Democratic strategist, the judge revised the gag order to protect his own family — and the family members of prosecutors — from Mr. Trump’s vitriol.
What punishment is Trump likely to receive?
In an 18-page decision released earlier this month, Justice Merchan said that he planned to give Mr. Trump a so-called unconditional discharge.
Unlike a conditional discharge, which requires defendants to meet certain conditions like maintaining employment or paying restitution, an unconditional discharge has no such requirements. In his decision, Justice Merchan wrote that the sentence “appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality.”
Still, the sentence would cement Mr. Trump’s status as a felon before his inauguration.
Mr. Trump had originally faced up to four years in prison, and it’s possible that he would have received a different sentence had he not been elected president.
A New York Times analysis of sentencing outcomes showed that since 2014, a third of defendants convicted of falsifying business records in the first degree in Manhattan were sentenced to jail time of less than a year. Other defendants received prison time — more than a year behind bars — or were sentenced to probation, conditional discharges, community service or fines.
None of the other defendants in the cases examined received an unconditional discharge.
Wasn’t the sentencing supposed to be before Election Day?
Mr. Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. But, 10 days beforehand, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Mr. Trump broad immunity from prosecution for official actions he took as president.
Capitalizing on the decision, Mr. Trump’s lawyers requested a delay in sentencing and argued that his Manhattan conviction should be thrown out because prosecutors had relied on evidence that included “official communications.” After consenting to the delay, prosecutors responded that the Supreme Court’s decision had “no bearing on this prosecution.”
Justice Merchan moved Mr. Trump’s sentencing to September, but the motions kept coming. Mr. Trump requested, for the third time since he was arraigned, that Justice Merchan recuse himself from the case. Mr. Trump’s motion was ultimately denied, but the judge pushed back his decision on immunity to two days before sentencing to account for the additional decision.
Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that two days would not provide them with adequate time to respond to the judge’s ruling.
And so, in early September, Justice Merchan announced that he would reschedule the sentencing for Nov. 26. He wrote that he had not made the decision lightly, and said he believed moving the date until after Election Day “best advances the interests of justice.”
After Mr. Trump won, he renewed his bid to overturn his conviction. Justice Merchan paused the sentencing, but last month denied Mr. Trump’s request to dismiss the case in light of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling. And just last week, he rejected Mr. Trump’s claim that his victory should shut down the case.
Despite many last-ditch efforts earlier this week to stave off the sentencing, including an unsuccessful plea to the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Trump’s sentencing is expected to proceed as scheduled.
What will happen next?
Mr. Trump’s sentencing allows him to begin mounting a formal appeal, though he did not wait to begin attacking the conviction. Shortly before his sentencing, Mr. Trump filed a civil action against Justice Merchan, challenging his immunity ruling.
The appeals process could take months or years. The case would first go to the Appellate Division in Manhattan and then, if that is unsuccessful, Mr. Trump’s lawyers will seek review from the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals in Albany.
But one option will not be available to him even after he becomes president. He will not be able to pardon himself, because the prosecution was brought by New York State rather than by the federal government.
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