Ex-President sentenced Donald Trump Going to prison with a Secret Service detail after his guilty plea in a New York trial would be a “logistical nightmare,” a former federal prosecutor said.
Earlier this year, Trump, now 2024 Republicans The presidential candidate was tried in New York for falsifying business records related to hush-money payments 34 times. Stormy DanielsA former adult film actor, before the 2016 presidential election. On May 30, A The jury found him guilty On all 34 counts.
Justice of the New York Supreme Court Juan Merchantwho presided over the trial, is set to punish the former president 18 September.
said Nema Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers Firm in California. Newsweek That Merchan would be reluctant to send Trump to jail so close to the election.
“I think Trump will get probation or a suspended sentence. House arrest during a presidential election is unlikely. Imprisonment with Secret Service protection is even less likely and a logistical nightmare,” he said.
As a former president and presidential candidate, Trump is entitled to Secret Service protection, and Security has been beefed up around him Since the July 13 assassination attempt on his life at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Rahmani added that Murchan had already expressed reluctance to send Trump to jail.
“Judge Merchan was unwilling to jail Trump 10 willful violations of his gag order. That Trump has been convicted of Class E felonies, the least serious under New York law, will not change,” he said.
While considering Trump’s violation of the gag order during the trial, Murchan, who fined Trump $1,000 for each offense, said he was conscious of the fact that the former president would return to the White House if he won the 2024 election.
On August 29, Trump’s legal team sought to move the sentencing in the hush-money case to federal court.
request The next day was rejected by US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. The court clerk wrote that it was filed under a “wrongful event type” and did not include an “order permitting the filing of the petition” or an order granting “vacation” by the state court.
Newsweek Trump’s attorney was reached for comment by email outside normal business hours.
Whether Merchan is set to rule it Supreme CourtThe July 1 ruling, which granted Trump some presidential immunity for official acts performed while in office, Hush-money affects the case. The judge has already delayed sentencing because of the Supreme Court decision and may be reluctant to do so again.
Greg Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University in New York, Said earlier Newsweek that he believed the Court of Appeal would overturn the prison sentence imposed on Marach.
“If Merchan is sentenced to prison in the middle of an election for this record violation, I think the courts will do whatever it takes to stop him. We’ll be in uncharted waters,” Germain said.
He continued: “But I don’t think Merchan will sentence him to prison. I think there were serious problems in this case, and it should be properly reversed on appeal without disrupting the election cycle.”
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