The no-punishment sentence cements Trump’s conviction while freeing him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine.

Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump on Friday to no jail time, probation, or fines after he was convicted by a jury of falsifying business records.

President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday in relation to his Manhattan hush money case, cementing his legacy as America’s first convicted felon to assume the presidency. The case involves Trump’s falsification of business records to pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130,

President-elect Donald Trump will enter the White House this month as a felon, but will serve no jail time under a sentence handed down this morning in New York for his criminal conviction in a hush-money trial that angered him and his supporters but didn’t prevent him from reclaiming the presidency.

Justice Juan Merchan’s sentence of unconditional discharge for Trump carries no jail time, probation or fines. Trump had faced up to four years in prison.

Bradley Blackburn reports on President-elect Trump receiving an unconditional discharge in sentencing for 34 guilty counts of falsifying business records.

President-elect Donald Trump spoke for six minutes. The judge talked for seven. In the end, the first criminal court sentencing of a former or future president took little more than half an hour.

Friday’s punishment was largely symbolic, but it ensured that Donald J. Trump would become America’s first felon president.

The court turned down Trump's last-minute bid to prevent his sentencing, scheduled for Friday in New York state court in Manhattan 10 days before his inauguration for his second term as president.

President-elect Donald Trump was formally sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment