Judge Juan Merchan announced Friday that he will delay sentencing former President Donald Trump in a New York hush money trial until after the November election.
Merchan said Trump’s sentencing, which had been scheduled for Sept. 18, would be moved to Nov. 26. Voters will therefore go to the polls on November 5 without knowing whether a judge can order Trump to go to prison after being found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying corporate records.
Trump still faces up to four years in prison, though most experts believe Merchan will impose a lesser sentence.
In May, a Manhattan jury convicted Trump of efforts to cover up a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. Merchan initially delayed a July 11 sentencing hearing in the case so the Supreme Court could rule on whether presidential immunity protected Trump from prosecution.
Trump’s lawyers, who appealed the verdict in the case, had argued that the sentence should be moved so that it does not conflict with Election Day.
“By delaying sentencing until after the election — which is of paramount importance to the entire nation,” the lawyers said in court, “the court would reduce, if not eliminate, immunity issues in future trials.”
