Donald Trump convicted of felony crimes

On Thursday, after the jury deliberated for nine hours, Donald Trump has been found guilty of 34 felony charges in New York. He was accused of trying to illegally influence the 2016 election by making hush money payments to the porn actor Stormy Daniels. Donald Trump is the first American President to be convicted of felony crimes.

Following the verdict, Donald Trump made a statement to the press: “This was a rigged, disgraceful trial… he real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people. They know what happened, and everyone knows what happened here.” It is expected Trump’s legal team will appeal the the verdict.

Judge Juan M. Merchan, who presided over the trial, set the sentencing for July 11th. The sentencing takes places days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where it is expected the GOP will make Trump their nominee in the upcoming election.

Charges relating to the falsifying business records carry a prison term of up to four years. But Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, did not want to state whether the prosecutors will seek imprisonment. Bragg did state: “While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately today in this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes through the courtroom doors, by following the facts and the law and doing so without fear or favor.”

Neither conviction nor the potential imprisonment will prevent Trump from continuing his Presidential campaign. Trump does face three other felony charges, but the New York trial is the only one that might conclude by the November election.

The New York case is considered to be the “weakest” of the other three cases he is facing. Other local and federal cases in Atlanta and Washington (that accuse him of by conspiring to overturn the 2020 election) and the federal indictment in Florida (that charge him with illegally handling top secret documents) have faced delays and appeals.