Former President Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies by the jury in his “hush money” trial in New York on Thursday, a momentous decision that makes him the first former president in U.S. history to be convicted of a crime.
The 12 New Yorkers who made up the jury found that Trump violated the law by falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. They found him guilty on all counts at the end of their second day of deliberations.
The presumptive Republican nominee for president is now also a convicted felon.
The verdict was handed down in the same Manhattan courtroom where Trump has been on trial for the past six weeks. Trump stared at each juror as they confirmed their vote to convict. He angrily denounced the decision in the hallway outside the courtroom, vowing to fight the conviction.
Jurors sided with prosecutors who said that Trump authorized the plan to falsify checks and related records in an effort to prevent voters from learning of an alleged sexual encounter with Daniels. Prosecutors for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the conspiracy spanned his 2016 campaign and continued well into his first year in the White House. Trump denied having sex with Daniels and pleaded not guilty.
Justice Juan Merchan set a sentencing date of July 11. Trump could face up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine for each count, but Merchan has wide leeway when imposing a sentence, and could limit the punishment to a fine, probation or home confinement.
