Former President Donald Trump could be sentenced to 400 years in prison if he is convicted on all charges and the maximum sentences are imposed consecutively, though a likelier penalty would be for five to twenty years.
Trump was charged with 37 counts, and co-defendant Waltine Nauta was sentenced to six counts. They are:
- Counts 1-31, for “Willful Retention of National Defense Information” under 18 U.S.C. § 793(e), carry a maximum sentence of ten years for each charge.
- Count 32, for “Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice” under 18 U.S.C. § 1512 (k), makes Trump and Nauta liable for the same penalties that each would receive for their alleged crimes as part of the alleged conspiracy, in this case up to 20 years.
- Count 33, for “Withholding a Document or Record” under 18 U.S.C § 1512 (b) (2) (A) (and also § 2, making Trump a “principal” for allegedly causing the act alleged to have been committed by Waltine Nauta), carries a sentence of up to 20 years.
- Count 34, for “Corruptly Concealing a Document or Record” under 18 U.S.C. § 1512 (c) (1) (and also § 2), carries a sentence of up to 20 years.
- Count 35, for “Concealing a Document in a Federal Investigation” under 18 U.S.C § 1519 (and also § 2), carries a sentence of up to 20 years.
- Count 36, for “Conspiracy to Conceal” under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (a) (2) (and also § 2), carries a sentence of up to five years.
- Count 37, for “False Statements and Representations” under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (a) (2) (and also § 2), carries a sentence of up to five years.
- Count 38, for “False Statements and Representations” under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (a) (2), carries a sentence of up to five years.
Trump faces counts 1 through 37; Nauta faces counts 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, and 38. That means Trump faces a potential sentence of 400 years, while Nauta faces a potential sentence of 90 years, though it is unlikely that a judge would impose these sentences to run consecutively.
It is more likely that each would face a sentence of up to five years on the lesser charges, or up to 20 years on the greater charges, with other sentences concurrent.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.