By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

In a historic and dramatic moment, the jury in New York delivered a resounding verdict on May 29, 2024, finding former President Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. This unprecedented decision marks the first time in American history that a former president has been convicted of criminal charges.
A hush fell over the courtroom late in the afternoon as the jury handed Judge Juan M. Merchan a note. “We the jury have a verdict. We would like an extra 30 minutes to fill out the forms if that’d be possible,” the note read. The jury had deliberated for 9.5 hours over two days after a three-week trial.
The twice-impeached, four-times indicted, and now convicted Trump faced charges connected to a $130,000 hush-money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the days leading up to the 2016 election. The trial featured weeks of tawdry testimony about tabloid deal-making and the alleged sexual encounter between Trump and Daniels. Prosecutors argued that Trump engaged in a fraud against the American people by falsifying records related to the reimbursement of his former lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, who paid Daniels out of his own pocket.
The courtroom was silent as the jury’s verdict was read aloud: “Guilty, guilty, guilty…” repeated 34 times, solidifying the former president’s fate. Trump, who is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024, now faces a potential sentence ranging from probation to four years in prison. His legal team has already indicated plans to appeal, a process that could extend over several years.
This criminal case is one of four Trump is currently facing, but it is likely the only one that will go to trial before Election Day. Trump faces as much as four years in prison, but because he’s viewed as a first-time offender and the convictions are on low-level felonies, he’ll likely receive probation.
“Today, the criminal justice system worked,” National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Chair Bobby Henry stated. “As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alluded to, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” Henry said.
The NNPA is the trade association of the 250 African American-owned newspapers and media companies that comprise the Black Press of America.
“The NNPA congratulates the Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, who stood up triumphantly against the criminal acts of former President Trump,” NNPA President Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., stated. “In America, no one should be above the equitable rule of law. In particular, Black
America knows too well the horrors of inequity and injustice. In the historic case of New York v. Trump, it now appears that in New York City, finally after centuries of racial oppression, the gavel of justice has now come down on one of the nation’s most zealous criminals who unrepentantly desires to return to the White House in 2024.”