They were misdemeanors - UNLESS used in conjunction with another crime. It took another crime to raise it to a felony. That other crime? They had a choice of three.
If he wasn’t guilty of one of the other three, then he could NOT have been found guilty. They did not formally CHARGE him with the other crimes, but they could not find him guilty UNLESS he was ALSO guilty of them.
Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree is a felony, period. It only requires intent to commit or conceal a crime, not a conviction or guilt.
The judge laying out the three possible crimes for the jurors, was in my opinion, leading the jurors by the nose to accept Trump WAS committing or concealing a crime, based on the fact that Cohen pled GUILTY to FECA violations, and testimony that as Trump’s lawyer, he did it on his behalf and with his knowledge. Barring a former Commissioner of the FEC from testifying that Trump’s actions were NOT a crime under FECA sealed the deal.