Judge Juan M. Merchan, who donated money to President Joe Biden, ordered President-elect Donald Trump to appear for sentencing next week in the hush money case, just 10 days before he is set to be inaugurated.

Merchan denied Trump’s motion to vacate the guilty verdict in the highly controversial case that even many Democrats have said should have never been brought.

He ordered Trump to appear for sentencing “in person or virtually” on January 10, 2025, at 9:30 a.m.

The Associated Press reported that Merchan “indicated [Trump] wouldn’t be jailed.”

He “signaled in a written decision that he’d sentence the former and future president to what’s known as a conditional discharge, in which a case gets dismissed if a defendant avoids rearrest,” the AP reported.

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