After Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years for crimes of seditious conspiracy, Andrew Weissmann, the former Assistant U.S. Attorney, claimed on MSNBC on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump might face a “substantial” prison term.
Hundreds of accusations against the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, amount to around seven centuries in prison term. Trump’s present odds of running for the presidency from behind bars next year are impacted by the four pending cases against him.
In New York, the maximum punishment is 136 years; four years is possible for each count. However, such sentences are only handed out in exceptional cases, such as when there are prior felony convictions or when the offense committed is very severe. A court would be unlikely to impose harsher punishments than monetary penalties, probation, and community service on Trump should he be found guilty by a jury.
Trump faces allegations of mishandling sensitive material, impeding justice, and making false statements in his documents case, all of which have a potential sentence of 450 years. Trump is facing over 30 accusations of deliberate and reckless retention of secret material, each carrying a possible jail term of many years.
Trump faces two basic charges in the case of the federal election, both of which carry maximum sentences of 55 years each— conspiracy to defraud the United States and to undermine Americans’ right to vote in free elections. Trump was accused of trying to prevent the election’s certification by inciting a mob to storm the Capitol. If found guilty, Trump risks significant jail time, especially for the obstruction of proceeding charges, which have potential penalties of 20 years for each count.
In addition to the 12 felony charges on which Trump is now being tried, the maximum sentence he may get in the Georgia case is 76.5 years. The Justice Department seems to be attempting to streamline the issue so that it may be heard in court before the 2024 general election, and legal experts have commented on the strength of the government’s case in this regard.
