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/ CBS News
Former President Donald Trump will speak to the press at Trump Tower in New York on Friday morning after he was convicted on 34 felony counts Thursday in a case stemming from a “hush money” payment to an adult film star.
A jury of 12 New Yorkers deliberated over two days to reach the verdict, finding that Trump illegally falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment made in the days before the 2016 election to adult film star Stormy Daniels to silence her account of a sexual encounter with him. Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has denied having sex with Daniels.
The historic verdict makes Trump the first former president to be convicted of a crime. His sentencing is scheduled for July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention, where he is expected to officially become the party’s nominee.
After the verdict was announced Thursday, Trump denounced it as a “disgrace” and declared himself “a very innocent man.”
“The real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people, and they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here,” Trump told reporters.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Trump faked the business records “to conceal a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election,” and he thanked the jury for their service.
“Many voices out there. The only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken,” Bragg said at a news conference after the verdict.
Is Trump going to prison? What to know about the possible sentence after his conviction
Each of the 34 felony charges carries up to a $5,000 fine and four-year prison sentence. But whether Trump will go to prison is another question — one that’s up to the judge at sentencing.
The judge set a July 11 date for sentencing following the jury’s verdict on Thursday.
The timing is in line with similar white-collar felony cases, where sentencing often takes place anywhere from three to eight weeks after conviction, according to Dan Horwitz, a defense lawyer who formerly prosecuted white-collar cases for the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
The minimum sentence for falsifying business records in the first degree is zero, so Trump could receive probation or conditional discharge, a sentence of no jail or up to four years for each offense. Trump would likely be ordered to serve the prison time concurrently for each count, so up to four years, total. Read more here.
Where Trump’s 3 other criminal cases stand
Former President Donald Trump’s conviction on all 34 state felony counts in New York may mark the close of the trial stage in the hush-money case, but a trio of prosecutions continue to loom over the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
Trump is still facing charges in two cases brought in federal courts in South Florida and Washington, D.C., by special counsel Jack Smith and one prosecution in state court led by Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis. He is set to be sentenced in the New York case on July 11.
How to watch Trump’s remarks
- What: Donald Trump gives remarks after his guilty verdict in New York
- Date: Friday, May 31
- Time: 11 a.m. ET
- Location: Trump Tower in New York
- Online stream: Live on CBS News in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
