Merchan sentenced Trump on Friday morning to unconditional discharge, meaning he faces no punishment such as fines or jail time.
The judge spared Trump prison or a fine even though the 34 counts of falsifying business records on which he was convicted in May 2024 carried potential jail time.
In a one-paragraph order, the majority refused to stay his state court-sentencing whose genesis lay with payments that Trump allegedly arranged to cover up his purported affair with the adult film actor Stormy Daniels.
US President-elect Donald Trump was formally sentenced on Friday in his hush-money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment.