Judge sets Donald Trump's sentencing in hush money case for Jan 10

Donald Trump will be sentenced on January 10 in a criminal case for which he was convicted for silencing a porn star by paying hush money and falsifying business record, a New York judge ruled on Friday (local time). The judge also added that Trump will face no legal penalties for his conviction in the case, CNN reported. Judge Juan Merchan, upholding Trump's conviction, set the sentencing on January 10, however, he indicated that the case is essentially over.

Trump had appealed to throw out the jury's verdict because of his reelection in November, CNN reported. The judge in his ruling said that imposing no penalty would bring "finality" to the case while allowing Trump to continue pursuing an appeal of the conviction. 

"A sentence of an unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution to ensure finality and allow Defendant to pursue his appellate options," Merchan wrote. According to CNN, the judge also said that he would allow Trump to appear at the sentencing virtually, to assuage the president-elect's concerns about the "mental and physical demands during this transition period."

"It was a smart move by Judge Merchan to announce in advance that he is going to impose no punishment, and hold the proceeding remotely because that undermines any effort by Trump's team to argue in federal court that sentencing imposes some major burden," said CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said. 

Trump was convicted in May of last year on 34 counts of falsifying business records last month in connection with a hush money payment his ex-fixer, Cohen, made to Daniels, a porn actor, ahead of the 2016 election to keep her story of an alleged affair with Trump a secret. Trump has denied the affair and vowed to appeal the guilty verdict.

That verdict marked a historic moment as Trump became the first president in US history to be convicted of a felony. 

(This story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI)