Trump Is Sentenced In His Hush Money Case, But The Judge Declines To Impose Any Punishment

The sentence sidesteps thorny constitutional issues but assures that Trump will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency

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President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment, an outcome that cements his conviction while freeing him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine.

The punishment-free judgment marks a quiet end to an extraordinary case that for the first time put a former president and major presidential candidate in a courtroom as a criminal defendant.

The case was the only one of four criminal indictments that has gone to trial and possibly the only one that ever will.

Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan could have sentenced the 78-year-old Republican to up to four years in prison.

Instead, he chose a sentence that sidestepped thorny constitutional issues by effectively ending the case but assured that Trump will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency.

Unlike his trial last year, when Trump brought allies to the courthouse and addressed waiting reporters outside, the former president did not appear in person Friday, instead making a brief virtual appearance from his home in Palm Beach, Florida.