Trump 'more likely now' to get jail time as 'aggravating factors' pile up: legal expert

Opinions on whether Donald Trump will avoid jail time after being convicted in a Manhattan courtroom on 34 felony counts are evolving as the former president continues to attack the presiding judge and refuses to admit he broke the law.

In an interview with Salon's Marina Villaneuve, Adam Shlahet, director of the Brendan Moore Trial Advocacy Center at Fordham Law, admitted he didn't see the former president being incarcerated by Judge Juan Merchan, but that Trump's conduct since the verdict was handed down has him leaning to thinking the judge will now come down harder on the former president.

According to Shlahet, there is a growing list of aggravating factors Trump has created that likely have not escaped the notice of Merchan which could override a previous plan to not send the elderly Trump to jail.

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“When I first started thinking about this case, I thought that the judge sentencing him to incarceration was very unlikely. I'm thinking it's more likely now," he explained before adding that Trump has made himself even more "vulnerable" to imprisonment.

“He [Merchan] can take into account all of his civil fraud, can take into account all of his contempt, and so even though this is a guy with no record and he's an older gentleman, there are a ton of factors, aggravating factors that would lead a judge to give him some jail time,” he stated before pointing out that Trump's inability to keep his mouth shut about the trial and the judge will be a mitigating factor.

“When the person who's going to be deciding your sentence is the judge, it's also a really good idea to not antagonize the judge at every opportunity," Shlahet elaborated. "Every time he gets a microphone, he insults the judge and calls the judge crooked and calls the judge conflicted and shows no respect for the jury's verdict. And that is not the way a defendant who wants probation should be acting.”

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