'Indefensible': Professor says 'pattern of abusing' leaves Trump judge 'daunting' decision

Former President Donald Trump, now a convicted felon, could be headed to prison, a former state and federal prosecutor wrote in an opinion piece Tuesday.

Frank O. Bowman III, author of “High Crimes & Misdemeanors: A History of Impeachment for the Age of Trump” and a professor at the University of Missouri, outlined his case on MSNBC.com for why he thinks Trump is not only deserving of prison time, but very well could be headed behind bars come his sentencing hearing July 11.

Trump’s position as a former president and current candidate adds another dimension to Judge Juan Merchan’s deliberations, Bowman said,

"Trump’s status also renders his offense far more serious and his behavior during the case indefensible, thus making a prison sentence more plausible," Bowman said.

Additionally, he has a checkered history already, including being found by civil juries in New York to have sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll, and defrauding banks in that state. Bowman also points to Trump's impeachment inquiries — once involving extortion of Ukraine, and a second involving attempts to "steal the 2020 election" — as well as Trump's "unrelievedly outrageous" behavior in and out of the courtroom.

That behavior led to the former president twice being held in contempt.

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"In short, Judge Merchan is not sentencing a defendant who merely cooked the books to hide one sordid affair, but a man with a proven pattern of abusing individuals, cheating at business and, most critically, corrupting the electoral process to gain and keep presidential power," Bowman said.

Trump's checkered past, behavior in the courtroom and status, together, "would justify a prison term," Bowman said, noting the choice is "daunting" for Merchan.

"Whatever he decides, the rest of us should respect it," Bowman said.