Sunday, July 19, 2026

New York court delays sentencing Donald Trump after immunity ruling

The new date gives Mr Trump time to focus on the upcoming Republican National Convention, where his presidential nomination is expected to be made formal.

• July 2, 2024
U.S. President Donald Trump
Donald Trump [Photo credit: CNN]

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has succeeded in delaying his sentencing in the hush money scandal till September after arguing that the Supreme Court’s Monday ruling — that granted him broad immunity for “official” acts — could significantly alter his conviction.

Mr Trump’s lawyers had requested the postponement on the basis that the Supreme Court immunity ruling and the outcome of the findings by lower courts held sway on the hush money case for which the former president was already convicted.

Given that prosecutors offered no objections to the request, Judge Juan Merchan of the New York court postponed the sentencing previously scheduled for July 11 till September 18 in the hopes that the lower court would have determined whether Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 elections could be categorised as part of his “official” duties or not.

“The July 11, 2024, sentencing date is therefore vacated,” Mr Merchan wrote to Mr Trump’s lawyers and the New York prosecutors on Tuesday. “The court’s decision will be rendered off-calendar on September 6, 2024, and the matter is adjourned to September 18, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. for the imposition of sentence, if such is still necessary, or other proceedings.”

The new date gives Mr Trump time to focus on this month’s upcoming Republican National Convention, where his presidential nomination is expected to be made formal ahead of the hotly contested November polls.

In the New York court, Mr Trump was being legally hounded for paying off an adult star, Stormy Daniels, $130,000 to keep silent on his alleged sexual indiscretion with her before the 2016 presidential elections in which he defeated Hillary Clinton. His fixer, Michael Cohen, made the payment to Ms Daniels.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Lagos

Lagos residents decry soaring corn prices

A corn trader, Justina Odion, blamed the high retail price on increased wholesale costs.

NationWide

Afam Okeke wins NBA general secretary election with 8,478 votes

The live results portal showed that a total of 82,167 voters were accredited for the general election held on Saturday.

Tinubu and Gov Uba Sani

States

Tinubu is pillar of my infrastructural development: Gov Sani

The governor said that the N1 trillion Light Rail Project will commence in the next two months.

Nigerian Troops

States

Troops foil abduction of Borno female students 

He said that the terrorists reportedly gained access to the facility with the assistance of suspected collaborators

CDHR

Rights

Civil society organisations key to strengthening Nigeria’s democracy: CDHR 

He said civil society organisations serve as a bridge between the government and the people.

Chibuzor Okereke

NationWide

2027: Nigeria won’t drift into one-party state, says LP presidential candidate 

Mr Okereke described the one-party state narrative as a mere political construct.