NEW YORK — Donald Trump is set to become the first felon to serve as U.S. president after a New York judge on Friday denied his request to throw out the guilty verdicts in his hush money case and, in a stunning development, ordered him to appear for sentencing next week.

In an 18-page decision, state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan scheduled Trump’s sentencing for Jan. 10, at 9:30 a.m., at lower Manhattan’s 100 Centre St. in person or virtually. Merchan said he was inclined to impose a lenient and rarely heard of sentence of an unconditional discharge, meaning Trump would not face jail time, probation or any other form of punishment. The judge said it appeared to be “the most viable solution to ensure finality” and allow Trump to pursue his appeal options.

Rejecting Trump’s argument that the historic conviction would impact his ability to govern and other legal positions, Merchan said throwing out the guilty verdicts would, in fact, cause “immeasurable damage” to the nation’s confidence in the law. Trump had argued, in part, that the decision by the voters who elected him should override that of the jury who found he broke the law.

“Here, 12 jurors unanimously found Defendant guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records with the intent to defraud, which included an intent to commit or conceal a conspiracy to promote a presidential election by unlawful means. It was the premeditated and continuous deception by the leader of the free world that is the gravamen of this offense,” Merchan wrote.

“To vacate this verdict on the grounds that the charges are insufficiently serious given the position Defendant once held, and is about to assume again, would constitute a disproportionate result and cause immeasurable damage to the citizenry’s confidence in the Rule of Law.”

Trump may ask a New York appeals court to intervene and stop the proceeding from going forward 10 days before his presidential inauguration. However, if he lets it go forward, it would allow him to appeal his conviction instantly.

In a statement, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung blasted the decision.

“President Trump must be allowed to continue the Presidential Transition process and to execute the vital duties of the presidency, unobstructed by the remains of this or any remnants of the Witch Hunts. There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead,” Cheung wrote.

A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case, declined to comment.

The ruling, responding to a motion Trump brought after his election win, represents Merchan’s final say on Trump’s many efforts to get the case tossed.

Last month, Merchan denied a motion Trump filed before the election to throw out the verdicts and dismiss the underlying indictment based on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, which came down after he was found guilty and granted the president broad immunity from criminal prosecution for “official acts.”

Trump had argued the ruling meant prosecutors were prohibited from showing evidence related to his time in office, including testimony from White House staffers and threatening posts on his presidential social media account directed at Michael Cohen, his former fixer. The judge agreed with the position of prosecutors that the evidence in question concerned “entirely unofficial conduct.”

On Friday, Merchan rejected arguments Trump renewed after the election that he was protected by the Supreme Court decision, writing that “immunity from criminal process for a sitting president does not extend to a President-elect.”

A jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsification of business records on May 30 relating to his reimbursement to Cohen for paying off porn star Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 election, classifying him the first U.S. president to be found guilty of breaking the law. The charges carry up to four years in prison.

Prosecutors at trial argued that Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Daniels purchased her silence about a sordid sexual encounter she’s long alleged she had with Trump at a 2006 golf tournament when the porn actress and producer was 27 and he was 60. Trial evidence showed it was one made in a scheme to suppress unflattering information about his past from voters in 2016.

The criminal case was the only one of four brought against Trump after his first term that made it before a jury. After his victory, the Department of Justice moved to end the federal cases accusing him of plotting to overthrow President Joe Biden’s win in 2020 and hoarding highly sensitive classified documents impacting national security after leaving office and poorly storing them at his country clubs.

He’s not expected to face trial on state criminal charges in Georgia, which relate to his alleged election subversion efforts, anytime soon.

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