Here's what is means when a court grants an unconditional discharge, as happened with President-elect Donald Trump's hush money case Jan. 10.

Justice Juan M. Merchan, an even-keeled jurist, has been in the president-elect’s cross-hairs for nearly two years.

With Trump 10 days from inauguration, Judge Juan M. Merchan has indicated he plans a no-penalty sentence called an unconditional discharge and prosecutors aren't opposing it. That would mean no jail time, no probation and no fines would be imposed, but nothing is final until Friday's proceeding is done.

Judge Juan Merchan imposed an "unconditional discharge” that means Trump receives no prison time or probation. Trump continues to appeal conviction.

The president-elect received an unconditional discharge of his sentence, which spares him jail time but formalizes his status as a felon. He will be the first to carry that distinction into the White House.

In the first test of how receptive the court may be to Trump, 4 of the court's 6 conservative members said they would have granted his emergency request.

Donald Trump was not punished for his criminal conviction in the Manhattan hush money case, bringing a lackluster end to the legal saga that will make him the country’s first felon-turned-president. At a sentencing hearing on Friday,