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US President-elect Donald Trump will be sentenced in the hush money case on January 10, days before his planned return to the White House, a New York judge ruled on Saturday. In an 18-page decision, Judge Juan Merchant said that a conditional discharge would be imposed on Mr Trump - meaning the case would be dismissed if the Republican avoids being re-arrested.
According to the judge, the former President can attend the sentencing in person or virtually.
"It seems proper at this juncture to make known the Court's inclination to not impose any sentence of incarceration...Prosecutors did not believe a jail term was a practicable recommendation," he said.
While Mr Trump will not face imprisonment, the sentencing will see the 78-year-old Republican entering the White House as a convicted felon.
What is the hush money case?
The hush money case stems from an alleged payment made by Mr Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to adult film star Stormy Daniels - who claimed that she was paid the money to stay quiet about her alleged affair with the former President during the 2016 election campaign.
Cohen, on the witness stand, agreed to pay Ms Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence. He also claimed that he did so at Mr Trump's direction.
Mr Trump has repeatedly denied the claims.
However, in May last year, he was convicted of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records connected to the payment - a violation of state election law. While hush money payments are not illegal, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office alleged that Mr Trump "committed a crime" by improperly recording the money with which he reimbursed Cohen as legal expenses.
Mr Trump's attorney had sought to have the case dismissed on multiple grounds since then, including the Supreme Court's landmark ruling last year that former US presidents have sweeping immunity from prosecution for a range of official acts committed while in office.
Trump denounces his sentencing
The US President-elect, who is expected to lodge an appeal that could potentially delay his sentencing, denounced the decision, calling it an "illegitimate political attack".
"This illegitimate political attack is nothing but a Rigged Charade," Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social page.
According to the Republican's spokesperson, Mr Trump's sentencing is a "violation of presidential immunity". "Today's order by the deeply conflicted, Acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court's Immunity decision and other longstanding jurisprudence," Steven Cheung, Trump's incoming communications director, told AFP.