Attorney Alan Dershowitz warned on Wednesday that the United States could be heading toward “Banana Republic Land” if New York Judge Juan Merchan sentences former President Donald Trump before the 2024 election.

Trump was convicted in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records and is set to be sentenced on Sept. 18. Dershowitz cautioned that Judge Merchan could impact the election based on what he described as an “invalid verdict,” comparing the situation to Venezuela, where President Nicolás Maduro has attempted to imprison political opponents after a disputed election.

“Judge Merchan should put off the sentencing until after the election, and then he can do his sentencing, and then the courts will reverse the conviction, but it will not have had an effect on the election,” Dershowitz said during an episode of his podcast, “The Dershow. “But if he sentences him before the election and it has an effect on the election, and then the conviction is reversed, we’re in Banana Republic land. That’s what’s going on today in Venezuela.”

Dershowitz also labeled the jury verdict as “invalid” earlier in the show, asserting that there is “nothing to this case, zero.”

“I know, I have been handling cases like this since the 1960s,” Dershowitz said. “There is no case here. There is no case here and so Judge Merchan should not be sentencing him before the election. He should be waiting till after the election. The conviction may very well be reversed. If it’s not reversed by the state courts of New York, it may very well be reversed by the Supreme Court, but the one thing you don’t want is to influence an election and then have it reversed.”

Some legal experts have speculated that Judge Merchan may postpone the sentencing date. Meanwhile, Trump sought to have the case transferred to federal court, but Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied the request on Tuesday.

“Imagine what would happen if it’s a close election and Trump loses. Again, I’m not here pushing for you to vote for Trump, I don’t know who I’m going vote for. I’m telling you this, let’s assume it’s a close election Trump loses … and the polls show that one of the reasons Trump lost is because he was convicted and sentenced by Judge Merchan. And he lost. And then six months later the conviction is reversed and the courts hold that the there was never any basis for having a conviction at all,” Dershowitz said. “What would that make the United States look like? How many bananas will that earn us? You know, we’re up to six bananas. I have to tell you if this sentence goes forward, I’m adding a banana, maybe more, but the idea that you can influence an election through an invalid criminal prosecution, an invalid jury verdict, an invalid conviction, an invalid sentence is, is a horrible thought, and for that reason, and for that reason alone, is enough.”