On Friday, the judge in the criminal hush money case against President-elect Donald Trump reportedly ordered him to appear at a New York courthouse for his sentencing, which is scheduled to take place just 10 days prior to his inauguration.
In May, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents in connection with hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, a former adult film star.
While Trump was campaigning for the presidency, the sentencing was suspended. Immediately following the November election, it appeared that Trump could avoid sentencing altogether, as he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to secure a second term in the White House.
Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump’s request to dismiss the case in his Friday ruling.
He was initially scheduled to be sentenced on November 26 and was at risk of imprisonment, although the majority of analysts believed that was improbable.
Merchan mandated that the president-elect attend the sentencing on January 10.
Merchan stated in his ruling that he would not impose any jail time on Trump.
The sentencing will occur four days following the certification of Trump’s election victory on January 6 and ten days prior to his inauguration.
Donald Trump’s court-ordered appearance will also coincide with the funeral arrangements for former President Jimmy Carter, who passed away last week at the age of 100.
After receiving an invitation to attend Carter’s funeral, Trump informed reporters this week that he would do so.
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