The judge presiding over President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Friday rejected his request to dismiss the case and said he would sentence him on Jan. 10, 10 days before his inauguration as the 47th president.

Judge Juan Merchan said Trump could appear for the sentencing in person or virtually and that he would not send Trump to prison.

“While this Court cannot, as a matter of law, make a decision on sentencing before the parties and defendants have been given an opportunity to be heard, it seems appropriate at this point to express the Court’s inclination not to award a custodial sentence, i.e. no custodial sentence “impose” by the sentence, “but the people admit that they no longer see it as a practical recommendation,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

Merchan said that “a judgment of unconditional dismissal appears to be the most practical solution to ensure finality and allow the defendant to pursue his appeal options,” but he would not grant Trump’s request to vacate the judgment.

“Here, 12 jurors unanimously found the defendant guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records with intent to defraud, including intent to commit or conceal by unlawful means a conspiracy to promote a presidential election,” he wrote.

Trump was convicted in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush-money payment that his then-lawyer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential election.

“It was the deliberate and continuous deception by the leader of the free world that represents the gravity of this offense,” Merchan wrote.

“To overturn this judgment on the grounds that the allegations are not serious enough given the position the defendant once held and will now assume again would represent a disproportionate result and cause immeasurable damage to citizens’ trust in the rule of law,” he said the judge added.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung called the ruling “a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling and other longstanding case law. This lawless case should never have been brought and the Constitution requires that it be dismissed immediately.”

“There should be no condemnation, and President Trump will fight these hoaxes until they are all dead,” he added.

It is unclear whether Trump plans to appear for the sentencing in person or virtually. The judge left open the possibility of sentencing after his term expires, an alternative suggested by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.

Merchan said he found this option “less desirable than imposing a penalty before January 20, 2025.” .”

The prosecutor’s office declined to comment.

Merchan rejected another attempt to dismiss the case last month when Trump argued he was already protected by presidential immunity because of his status as president-elect.

Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced in the case in July, but the trial was postponed several times at the request of Trump’s lawyers, first because of a Supreme Court ruling that set a new standard for presidential immunity and later because of Trump’s election victory .