President-elect Donald Trump must face sentencing in his criminal hush money case on Jan. 10, a New York judge ordered on Friday, an unexpected conflict he must face just 10 days before inauguration.
Trump was found guilty in May by a Manhattan jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an attempt to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election. The decision means Trump will likely become the first felon to serve as U.S. president, though the judge indicated he would not face any jail time.
Justice Juan Merchan said he denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the case following his November presidential election victory. The judge said the Republican president-elect may appear for sentencing either in-person or virtually.
Merchan wrote that a sentence of “unconditional discharge,” which means no custody, monetary fine, or probation, would mark “the most viable solution.”
After Trump’s conviction, he faced up to four years in prison, but experts largely believe incarceration would be unlikely due to his age and lack of prior convictions, in addition to his current duties to fulfill his oath of office.
Trump was originally supposed to be sentenced in July, but the date was postponed several times. The judge landed on Nov. 26 as the date, but it too was postponed after Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election.
Since his presidential election victory in November, Trump’s lawyers, several of whom are primed to assume ranking roles in his Justice Department, have argued that anything short of dismissing the case would violate laws that protect the transition process and grant immunity from prosecuting sitting presidents.
But Merchan sided with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the Democratic prosecutor who brought the case, who asked the judge to keep the sentencing in place and even floated postponing it until after Trump’s term ends in 2029. Separately, Merchan found on Dec. 16 that the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling did not nullify the jury trial because the conduct at issue lacked sufficient connection to his duties when he assumed office in 2017.
The case was the only one of four criminal indictments to go to trial before the 2024 presidential election.
Trump constantly described the criminal cases against him on the campaign trail as a “witch hunt,” and suggested that the New York prosecution was part of a scheme by his political rivals, including President Joe Biden, to keep him from winning back the Oval Office.
The date of Jan. 10 will be significant in both the Big Apple and the nation’s capital, where the Supreme Court that day will be debating a law that was passed to ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok.
Trump signaled a “warm spot” for the app after he said it helped his 2024 presidential campaign, and has asked the Supreme Court to stay the law from taking effect on Jan. 19.
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The next day, Trump is due to be sworn in as the 47th president.
A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.