The 45th U.S. president, Donald J. Trump, has become the first former president to be convicted on criminal charges.
The presumptive Republican 2024 presidential nominee was found guilty on all 34 counts by a jury in the unprecedented criminal prosecution of a former president.
Trump was accused of illegally trying to cover up a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, with whom he had a sexual encounter with and that threatened to derail his 2016 campaign. The bombshell verdict ends a dramatic seven-week trial in Manhattan Supreme Court where jurors heard testimony from Daniels and Trump’s former protector and enabler, Michael Cohen.
Trump, 77, was found guilty of falsifying business records throughout 2017 by lying that he was paying his then-lawyer, Cohen, for legal services when he was actually reimbursing him for the hush money he paid Daniels about having sex with Trump inside a Lake Tahoe hotel room in 2006. Officials say, each of the counts the 45th president faces comes with a maximum penalty of four years imprisonment.
Could Trump go to prison?
Legal minds say it is highly unlikely. Nevertheless, Trump is facing 136 years behind bars if given consecutive sentences. Officials say it’s more likely that he would be given concurrent sentences for each of the 34 counts. In reality, Trump is facing four years behind bars. But, the judge could also not sentence him to time behind bars.
