Judge to sentence Trump before inauguration

.Trump sentencing set for Jan. 10; judge leans toward no jail time despite felony conviction.

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NEW YORK:

The New York judge presiding over President-elect Donald Trump's hush money case on Friday set sentencing for 10 days before his January 20 inauguration and said he was not inclined to impose jail time.

Judge Juan Merchan said Trump, the first former president ever convicted of a crime, can appear either in person or virtually at his January 10 sentencing.

In an 18-page decision, Merchan upheld Trump's conviction by a New York jury, rejecting various motions from Trump's lawyers seeking to have it thrown out.

The judge said that instead of incarceration he was leaning towards an unconditional discharge -- meaning the real estate tycoon would not be subject to any conditions.

The sentence would nevertheless see Trump entering the White House as a convicted felon. The 78-year-old Trump potentially faced up to four years in prison but legal experts -- even before he won the November presidential election -- did not expect Merchan to send the former president to jail.

"It seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court's inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration," the judge said, noting that prosecutors also did not believe a jail term was a "practicable recommendation."

Trump is expected to lodge an appeal that could potentially delay his sentencing.

Trump was convicted in New York in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to stop her from revealing an alleged 2006 sexual encounter.

Trump's attorneys had sought to have the case dismissed on multiple grounds, including the Supreme Court's landmark ruling last year that former US presidents have sweeping immunity from prosecution for a range of official acts committed while in office.