Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felonies through one trial.. In the United States legal system, an individual can be charged with multiple violations of the law in a single case. Most of the time, there is only a handful of accusations of wrongdoing, but in more complex cases there can be a lengthy list. When it comes to the former president, prosecutors went big and charged him with over 30.
After deliberation, the jurors came to the conclusion that he was guilty on everything he was accused of within the case. However, it might be difficult to conceptualize, so we've broken down what all of these charges are for.
All of the charges were for falsifying records in the first degree which is a major crime in the world of business. He falsified those records to cover up the hush money he gave to Stormy Daniels. However, every instance of Trump doing this counted as a separate charge. Plus, the charges can be broken into three different categories: invoices for legal services, checks paid for legal services, and ledger entries for legal services.
Falsifying invoices for legal services
Faking invoices can lead to major legal trouble as it has for Trump. For someone to be considered falsifying their invoices, though, they need to meet some criteria. The invoice in question must be a duplicate, fake, or inflated to make it seem worth more than it actually is. Plus, there needs to be an intent. So, it must be proven that the charged individual sent the invoice to a client with the intent to defraud them. Another circumstance of falsifying an invoice is to charge a customer for a product or service that they were not provided, but this, too, needs to show intent and awareness from the person being charged.
Of his charges, falsifying invoices made up eleven for Trump. He was found guilty on all counts.
Donald Trump's NYE party - missing kids, worrying words and famous guestsFalsifying checks paid for legal services
There are plenty of different types of falsifying checks that someone can commit, including forging them entirely, committing grand larceny, writing checks from an employer to themself, and depositing a fake check into their account with hopes of getting money back. In this case, it falls under the wrongdoing of falsifying business records which mean that they are lying about where and how they're spending their money.
Of his charges, falsifying invoices made up eleven for Trump. He was found guilty on all counts.
Falsifying ledger entries for legal services
A ledger is a record of money entering an exiting an account for either a company or individual. Often times these are managed by an accountant, but an individual can do it themselves. It is possible for an individual to fudge the numbers or report lies to their accountant who then records inaccurate information. This allows for a company to either hyper-inflate their numbers on the books or not report money altogether.
Of his charges, falsifying invoices made up twelve for Trump. He was found guilty on all counts.