BREAKING — Donald Trump to Be Sentenced in Hush Money Case Despite President-Elect Begging Judge to Dismiss Charges Following Election Victory
Trump will be sentenced despite his pleas to have the case dismissed.
Jan. 3 2025, Published 4:26 p.m. ET
Donald Trump will be sentenced in the infamous hush money case just days before he is set to officially become the 47th President of the United States.
In May, the 78-year-old was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Trump will be sentenced this month on the hush money case.
While lawyers for Trump had previously argued the case should have been booted so it would not interfere with his ability to govern, Justice Juan Merchan wasn't having it as on Friday he denied the motion to dismiss the case.
Trump's attorneys also felt the Supreme Court's July ruling claiming the president has immunity from prosecution for official acts in office was enough to save their client from getting sentenced.
Merchan in his ruling, described Trump's conduct as a "premeditated and continuous deception by the leader of the free world."
He stated: "To vacate this verdict on the grounds that the charges are insufficiently serious given the position Defendant once held, and is about to assume again, would constitute a disproportionate result and cause immeasurable damage to the citizenry's confidence in the Rule of Law."
According to Merchan, Trump will have the choice of appearing for sentencing either in-person or virtually.
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump's first attempt at having the case dropped was also unsuccessful.
In December, the judge noted the evidence presented in the case was related "entirely to unofficial conduct" and therefore were not official actions as president.
Merchan wrote at the time: "This Court concludes that if error occurred regarding the introduction of the challenged evidence, such error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt.
"Even if this Court did find that the disputed evidence constitutes official acts under the auspices of the Trump decision, which it does not, Defendant's motion is still denied as introduction of the disputed evidence constitutes harmless error and no mode of proceedings error has taken place."
In response to Merchan's ruling, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung ripped the judge's decision, and claimed it was "a direct violation of the Supreme Court's decision on immunity, and other longstanding jurisprudence."
Trump also raged on Truth Social at the time, slamming the move as a "completely illegal, psychotic order" by the "corrupt and biased" judge. In May, Trump once again called the criminal proceedings a “witch hunt” and accused those involved of “election interference.”
He also accused Merchan of “making big money off of this scam and its outcome."
While the controversial politician faces the possibility of up to four years behind bars for his conviction, most legal experts believe he may not spend anytime at all in prison.
The 78-year-old faces up to four years behind bars, but experts believe he will receive a lighter sentence.
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According to sources, Trump's team are expected to ask an intermediate New York appellate court to intervene and stop the sentencing hearing from going forward.
Trump is set to be sentenced on January 10, just 10 days before his inauguration.
