First, he’s unlikely to go to prison. Not because of the logistics, but because my understanding is it would be mildly unusual for a first-time offender to go to prison for these crimes. (And he’s a 34 time first offender, weird as that sounds )
Second, if he goes to prison, he’s going to go to the low security prison with the embezzlers and tax cheats, not to the high security prison with the guys who shoot up a lot of random strangers at McDonald’s.
Third, unless he tries to shank a guard or something, he’s not going to be thrown in solitary confinement. If they feel the need to isolate him from other prisoners, he will still have the company of secret service personnel, he’ll still be able to use the prison library and make phone calls to his family and have other social interaction.
But my guess is that they’ll just keep his security around to make sure no one attacks him in the mess hall and the showers. And since he’s not going to be housed with people who can’t control their violent behavior, he’ll be fine. I mean, except for not getting food he likes, and maybe not getting the drugs he likes, and wearing uncomfortable clothing, and having to wait for his turn in the shower…
Yes, this. He’s going to be in a private wing, with visitors from friends, family and lawyers. Melania will be allowed to visit for private time (narrator: she won’t bother)
He won’t be in “solitary” and he won’t be mingling with ANY other prisoners. Secret Service will be constantly nearby to keep him “safe” An exception can be made to let them carry their weapons in the special “Trump Wing”
Should not be a problem.
And yes, first time offenders for this crime typically don’t see prison time. For those who take a plea deal and show contrition.
Not necessarily for those who go to court, lose on 34 counts, insult the judge and repeatedly violate gag orders.
He may not get prison time (probably will not) but that’s due to a lot of other factors. Logistics are not an impediment.
While not exactly the same, here’s what the US did with Noriega:
During his years at a minimum-security federal prison outside Miami, Noriega got special prisoner of war treatment, allowed to wear his Panamanian military uniform and insignia when in court. He lived in a bungalow apart from other inmates and had his own television and exercise equipment. He was said to be a TV news junkie and a voracious reader about politics and current events.
This point is being made frequently, but completely glosses over an important factor – the light treatment for first-time offenders is contingent on having reached a plea deal before trial. Absent a plea deal, first-time offenders found guilty of similar crimes at trial (e.g. Michael Cohen, et al) typically do receive a prison sentence.
New York is a liberal state with more merciful sentencing practices.
Judge Merchan will look for sentencing precedents and not find any close to exact, partly because public official corruption is an uncommon sort of crime. Merchan will also be strongly influenced in sentencing by the pre-sentence report that will be prepared by probation officer(s).
P.S. In the federal system, plea bargaining has to do with what the charges you are convicted of will be. The sentencing guidelines are the same regardless of whether you went to trial and lost on the same charges. Does anyone know how this compares to New York State?
So if you plea guilty to fed charges you still face the same prison sentence as if you were convicted at trial? Or is there some built-in 20% discount or something? (otherwise, why would someone ever plead guilty)
You get points for “acceptance of responsibility.” So, your guideline presumptive sentence will be a little lower. On top of that, you might get a the charge lowered, or a count or two dropped. Every deal is different. Some are quite dramatically better than going to trial. Others less so.
It could happen- Martha Stewart- per wiki- After a highly publicized six-week jury trial, Stewart was found guilty in March 2004 of felony charges of conspiracy to obstruct, of obstruction of an agency proceeding, and of making false statements to federal investigators and was sentenced in July 2004 to serve a five-month term in a federal correctional facility and a two-year period of supervised release (including five months of electronic monitoring).[56]
Logistics do not mean he wont get a prison sentence- but it will be too problematic- as my cite says- for anything but house arrest.
My thoughts all along. It doesn’t have to be some sort of engineering masterpiece. Through up another chain link fence as his exercise yard.
Make the SS comfortable though.
One problem might be his MAGA’s that might try to rescue him. But those that have two brain cells to rub together saw how well that worked the first time. The other 50% shouldn’t be that hard to deal with.
You know what’s a really problematic? Like, a heck of a lot more so than providing security in a prison? Providing security at a rally. And yet, nobody ever says “Trump can’t possibly hold rallies; the Secret Service protection is too problematic”.
I apologize if this article from the NYT about Trump going to prison and the Secret Service prep has already been shared but here it is as a free gift link. (No registration needed.). At the least it indicates there is a discussion taking place about what needs to be done if he is given a custodial sentence in this case or one of the others.
And despite all the conjecture in this and other threads about whether or not he will be given time in the lock up, there is really only one person who has an inkling of a clue as to the likelihood of it happening.
That person is Justice Juan Merchan. No other pundit, whether on the news or the SDMB, has anything resembling a clue.