Trump sentencing goes ahead despite ‘Hail Mary’ tactics in hush money case but conviction could still be overturned
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DONALD Trump turned to "Hail Mary" tactics in a bid to delay his sentencing because he didn't want to be a convicted felon heading into the White House, a former judge has told The U.S. Sun. The president-elect, 78, desperately scrambled to avoid being sentenced after Judge Juan Merchan penciled in a date for January 10 – just days before the Inauguration.
![[Trump desperately tried to avoid being sentenced for his hush money conviction]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/2024-new-york-testimony-resumes-946300797.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Last week’s dramatic ruling came months after Trump was convicted over falsifying business records stemming from a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair under wraps. Trump has vehemently denied claims surrounding the alleged affair.
![[Trump's team was accused of paying the porn star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair under wraps]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/stormy-daniels-seen-upper-west-908282527.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
The judge indefinitely suspended the sentencing following Trump’s comprehensive presidential election win in November, and it seemed the case would be stayed before the dramatic schedule shakeup. It prompted Trump to file a motion with a New York appeals court, which was swiftly denied.
![[Trump does not want the moniker of being a convicted felon]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/former-u-s-president-donald-905361911.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Trump then asked the Supreme Court to delay his sentencing. The tycoon ultimately failed in his efforts, and it will go ahead today. Judge John E. Jones, a former US district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, explained the motive behind Trump’s thinking.
And it revolved around Trump not wanting the moniker of being a convicted felon. The New York Court of Appeals has denied the president-elect’s bid to pause the sentencing. And Jones told The U.S. Sun that Trump’s motion to the appellate court was a “bit of a Hail Mary.”.
