CRKL partner John Spagna recently spoke with the Wall Street Journal about how a number of high-profile criminal cases against Donald Trump are likely to be resolved now that he has won his campaign for the White House.

In May of this year, Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actress. But the proceedings have faced a series of delays in the months since, as his defense team sought to buy time. New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan is expected to decide whether the conviction must be voided in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s immunity ruling.

“If it was unlikely he was going to jail prior to this, he’s never going to jail now,” Spagna said. “By the time he’s not president, he’s too old to be sentenced to jail for this type of offense.”

According to the WSJ, Trump’s lawyers will likely seek further postponement to avoid having him appear Manhattan courtroom during the presidential transition. If the matter still lingers by the time Trump takes the oath of office, any further proceedings are almost certain to be delayed until after he leaves the White House.

As a prosecutor, Spagna conducted complex investigations at both the county and state level. As a line assistant in the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor and then as a member of the elite Rackets Bureau at the New York County District Attorney’s Office, Spagna supervised teams of attorneys, investigators and paralegals in white-collar and organized crime investigations involving fraud, racketeering, official corruption, money laundering, bribery and homicide. During his career, he prosecuted more than 200 felony cases and conducted 12 felony trials and over 50 hearings in New York Supreme Court.

Trump’s conviction carries no mandatory prison time, but incarceration is among the options. Many court watchers already believed putting the former president behind bars was doubtful. Now, as president-elect it would appear to be highly unlikely.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal