Trump will be sentenced in hush money case on January 10
Donald Trump will be sentenced in the Stormy Daniels hush money case just 10 days before his inauguration, a judge has ruled.
Justice Juan Merchan said the Republican president-elect may appear for sentencing in New York on January 10 either in person or virtually.
In a dramatic filing on Friday afternoon the judge denied Trump's motion to dismiss the case and throw out the guilty verdict against him.
Merchan also revealed he is unlikely to jail Trump, 78, and could give him an 'unconditional discharge.'
That means Trump would not have to pay any fines or serve any probation. He had been potentially facing up to four years behind bars.
Merchan wrote that it was the 'most viable solution to ensure finality' while also allowing Trump to continue his appeal.
In May, a jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to a porn star - Stormy Daniels - to keep her quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election about their alleged affair 18 years earlier.
In dramatic court testimony, Daniels went into salacious and lurid detail about the night she claimed to have spent with Trump during a charity golf tournament in Nevada. He has denied the encounter took place.
Donald Trump must be sentenced in the criminal case in which he was convicted on criminal charges involving hush money paid to a porn star on Jan. 10
Lawyers for Trump argue the case should now be thrown out so it does not get in the way of his ability to govern once he takes the oath of office on January 20, 2025.
They also claim the case should be thrown out due to the Supreme Court's July ruling that the President of the United States has immunity from prosecution for official acts in office.
The case centered on Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecution of Trump for allegedly masterminding efforts to overthrow the 2020 election while in office, including on January 6 in the Capitol riot.
In Trump's second motion to dismiss the case filed since his May conviction, his defense lawyers argued that having the case hang over him during his presidency would impede his ability to govern.
Trump's first motion - which argued the case ran afoul of the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity - was unsuccessful.
Merchan determined last month that the evidence presented at the trial earlier this year was related 'entirely to unofficial conduct' and therefore did not amount to official actions as president.
'This Court concludes that if error occurred regarding the introduction of the challenged evidence, such error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt,' Merchan wrote.
A jury in May found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to pornstar Stormy Daniels to keep her quiet
Justice Juan Merchan denied the incoming president's motion to dismiss the case and the guilty verdict due to his election victory in a dramatic filing on Friday afternoon
Daniels' testimony in the trial last year went on for two days and included salacious details of her alleged affair with the president-elect
Lawyers for Trump argue the case involving porn star Stormy Daniels should now be thrown out
'Even if this Court did find that the disputed evidence constitutes official acts under the auspices of the Trump decision, which it does not, Defendant's motion is still denied as introduction of the disputed evidence constitutes harmless error and no mode of proceedings error has taken place.'
Trump lashed out in a post on Truth Social in December calling it a 'completely illegal, psychotic order' by the 'corrupt and biased' judge.
Prosecutors asked a New York judge last week to spare Trump prison time for his hush-money conviction in an effort to prevent the case from being thrown out altogether.
