U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was convicted in his New York hush money case but received no penalty, positioning him to become the first American president to take office as a convicted felon following his Jan. 20 inauguration.
Trump made a virtual appearance for the court proceedings and lashed out at what he deemed an unfair process, just hours after the Supreme Court shot down his bid to avoid his sentencing.
"I am totally innocent. I did nothing wrong," said Trump, who is still under a gag order in the case.
"This has been a political witch hunt," he continued. "It was done to damage my reputation so I would lose the election," he added, referring to last fall's presidential election, which he won.
Technically, Trump could have been sentenced to up to four years in prison, but Judge Juan Merchan handed down a sentence of an unconditional discharge for the 34 counts Trump was convicted of falsifying business records in May to cover up $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The payments were made to keep Daniels' story of an alleged 2006 affair with Trump from coming out during the 2016 presidential election.
The special circumstance of the unconditional discharge means that Trump will not have to serve any prison time, nor will he have to pay any monetary penalties.
"At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts," said Merchan, who wished Trump godspeed for his second term in the White House.
"Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances," he continued. "This has been a truly extraordinary case."
Trump called the proceedings a "setback for New York," with his legal team planning to appeal his sentencing.
"This has been a very terrible experience," said Trump during his virtual hearing, adding that the case was "inappropriately handled" by New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whom Trump called a "criminal."
Trump doesn't have to go to jail, pay a fine, or perform community service as a result of his conviction. But unless the conviction for falsifying business records is someday overturned, Trump will have felonies on his criminal record, which will affect some of his rights.
Trump is registered to vote in Florida and he will be able to vote there.
Florida does bar people convicted of felonies from voting but restores their right to vote after they have completed their sentence. People convicted of murder or a sex offense lose their right to vote permanently unless their rights are restored by a clemency board.
For people convicted of felonies in other states - like Trump - Florida only makes a person ineligible to vote if they lost their voting rights in the state where they were convicted. New York doesn't let a person convicted of a felony vote while they are incarcerated but restores voting rights once that person is released.
Under federal law, people convicted of felonies are not allowed to possess firearms.
By law, every person convicted of a felony in New York must provide a DNA sample for the state’s crime databank.
Samples are collected after sentencing, typically when a defendant reports to probation, jail, or prison. Samples can also be taken by a court or police official.
It’s a noninvasive process involving a swab along the inside of the cheek. State police analyze the cells and genetic material, creating a profile that is then entered into the databank.
There, technology takes over, performing automatic searches and comparing profiles of people convicted of crimes with profiles of DNA collected at crime scenes. Matches can be used to identify a suspect in an unsolved crime.
New York’s databank contains profiles for more than 720,000 offenders and is connected to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System.
There is nothing in federal law that prevents a person from becoming president because they have been convicted of a crime. State laws vary on whether a person with a criminal record can run for state and local offices. Some require a pardon or expungement to run for office. There are no such limits to run for federal office.
As president, Trump will have a diplomatic passport enabling him to travel to foreign countries for official business and can also keep a regular, or tourist passport. People sentenced to incarceration or probation can have their passports denied or revoked, but that isn't the case with Trump.
Some countries restrict or reserve the right to prohibit visits from people with felony convictions, including Canada, the United Kingdom and Israel.
Trump's felony conviction could bar him from holding liquor licenses, but that doesn't necessarily mean his golf courses and hotels will have to stop serving booze.
In New Jersey, for example, where Trump owns three golf courses, state law prohibits anyone who has been convicted of a crime "involving moral turpitude," from holding a liquor license.
But Trump's company has said his properties are all owned through corporate entities, and that he is not an officer or director of any entity that holds any liquor licenses.
Trump's conviction could also bar him from reentering the casino business if he wanted because people with criminal records are typically unable to obtain gaming licenses. Trump once owned three casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but no longer does.
Only New York's governor has the power to pardon Trump for this conviction. Trump’s case was tried in state court and involved violations of state law. Presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes.
It seems unlikely that Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, would pardon Trump. Asked last month if she would consider pardoning Trump, she didn’t say yes or no, but noted that the pardon process requires several elements, including "remorse.”
Trump says he did nothing wrong and has described the case against him as a "hoax” perpetrated by Democrats.
"No one will be treated any better, or any worse, by me when I make those life altering decisions as we’re looking at petitions that are coming in throughout the year," Hochul said. "So, no one gets extra favors, no one gets treated worse.”
