President-elect Trump Sentenced Without Penalty in New York Hush Money Case

US President-elect Donald Trump was handed a sentence without penalty on Friday after being found guilty in his New York hush money case, positioning him to become the first American president inaugurated as a convicted felon on January 20.

Trump participated virtually in the court proceedings, expressing outrage at what he considered an unfair process. This came hours after the Supreme Court denied his attempt to avoid sentencing.

"I am totally innocent. I did nothing wrong," Trump insisted, despite being under a gag order related to the case. "This has been a political witch hunt," he continued, alleging that the aim was to damage his reputation ahead of last fall’s presidential election, which he won.

While Trump faced a potential sentence of up to four years in prison, Judge Juan Merchan issued an unconditional discharge for the 34 counts of falsifying business records tied to $130,000 in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. These payments were made to prevent Daniels' claims of a 2006 affair with Trump from surfacing during the 2016 presidential election.

The special conditions of the unconditional discharge mean that Trump will not serve prison time nor incur monetary penalties.

"At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts," stated Merchan, who extended well wishes to Trump for his upcoming term in the White House. "Never before has this court seen such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances," he noted. "This has been a truly extraordinary case."

Trump criticized the proceedings as a "setback for New York,” with his legal team planning to appeal the sentence. "This has been a very terrible experience," he remarked during the virtual hearing, accusing New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg of mishandling the case.