Donald Trump is the first former United States president to be convicted of felony crimes but it remains unclear if he will go to jail.
Trump is expected to quickly appeal the verdict and will face an awkward dynamic as he seeks to return to the presidential campaign trail as a convicted felon.
The falsifying business records charges carry up to four years behind bars, though prosecutors have not said whether they intend to seek imprisonment, and it is not clear whether the judge â who earlier in the trial warned of jail time for gag order violations â would impose that punishment even if asked.
The judge set a July 11 date for sentencing following the jury’s verdict.
Dan Horwitz, a defence lawyer who formerly prosecuted white-collar cases for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, told CBS Trump could be sentenced to a period of home detention.
The former president could carry out the sentence outside of New York, for instance, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where New York state would coordinate with Florida’s probation department, which would monitor Trump’s confinement, Horwitz said.
In the event that Trump is sentenced to jail time, the location would depend on the duration of his sentence.
The conviction, and even imprisonment, will not bar Trump from continuing his pursuit of the White House.
Can a convict run for president?
The US Constitution lays out just three requirements for presidential candidates. They must:
- Be a natural born citizen.
- Be at least 35 years old.
- Have been a US resident for at least 14 years.
Trump meets all three requirements. There is, arguably, another criterion laid out in the 14th Amendment, where it states that no one who has previously taken an oath of office who engages in insurrection can be an officer of the US.
But the US Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that Congress would have to pass a special law invoking this prohibition. That’s not happening any time soon.
There is also precedent for presidential campaigns, albeit unsuccessful ones, being mounted from prison cells.
– With Associated Press, CNN
