President-elect Donald Trump will be sentenced Friday in the business records case in which a Manhattan jury found him guilty of falsifying business records.
New York County Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan has confirmed sentencing for Trump – which he is expected to attend virtually.
As Breitbart News reported, Trump had made an eleventh-hour plea for a suspension of the criminal proceedings to the nation’s highest court after a New York State appeals court dismissed his effort to have the hearing delayed, and the state’s top court declined to act on the request.
But the Supreme Court ruled the sentencing could proceed.
AFP reports prosecutors opposed the effort to stave off sentencing, 10 days before Trump is due to be sworn in for a second term, arguing it was wrong for the apex court to hear the case when the 78-year-0ld still had avenues of appeal to pursue in New York.
“This Court lacks jurisdiction over a state court’s management of an ongoing criminal trial when defendant has not exhausted his state-law remedies,” the prosecution told the Supreme Court.
Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and they said sentencing would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.
Judge Merchan has indicated he would not give the incoming president any jail time, fines or probation.
Friday’s sentencing will begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
