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Justice Juan Merchan will be presiding over former American president Donald Trump's criminal case. On March 30, 76-year-old Trump was indicted by a Manhattan-based jury for his alleged connection to hush-money payments made to pornstar Stormy Daniels before his 2016 presidential election.
A veteran in the New York court system, Merchan has an experience of over 15 years and has worked on several high-profile prosecutions, including one involving Donald Trump and his associates.
In 2022, Merchan presided over a criminal trial of the Trump Organization that resulted in the real estate firm being convicted of tax fraud and fined, while one of its longstanding executives, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison.
After a jury found the Trump Organization guilty in December, Merchan asked the business to pay $1.6 million. Weisselberg, a former executive under Trump who was the prosecution's main witness in the trial, was also given a five-month prison sentence by the court.
As for Trump's recent trial, the jury is yet to disclose the charges against him. However, as per Reuters, Trump's attorney Susan Necheles said the politician will plead not guilty.
All you need to know about Juan Merchan
According to the judge's New York Times bio, Merchan was born in Bogota, Colombia, immigrated to the country at the age of 6, and grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, in New York City. He became the first person in his family to attend college.
The publication reported that Merchan formerly majored in business at Baruch College in New York before quitting school to start working and later returning to complete his studies to obtain a law degree. He ultimately earned a law degree from Hofstra University, Long Island, New York.
In 1994, Juan Merchan began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. A few years later, he went on to work for the state attorney general's office on Long Island.
Merchan was nominated to the Family Court in the Bronx by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican at the time, and to the New York State Court of Claims by Democratic Gov. David Paterson in 2009, the same year he started working as an interim New York Supreme Court Judge.
As for Donald Trump, the 76-year-old politician ranted on his social media platform, Truth Social, on March 31 about Juan Merchan.
"The Judge 'assigned' to my Witch Hunt Case, a 'Case' that has NEVER BEEN CHARGED BEFORE, HATES ME. He strong armed Allen, which a judge is not allowed to do, & treated my companies, which didn't 'plead,' VICIOUSLY."
Juan Merchan's recent encounters with individuals close to the former president do not end with the Trump Organization lawsuit.
He is also ruling over an indictment involving former Trump campaign and White House advisor Steve Bannon, who has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, conspiracy, and deceit in connection with a charity that collected funds to construct a border wall between the United States and Mexico.
