20-6-2023 (WASHINGTON) Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has reached an agreement to plead guilty to two federal misdemeanor crimes related to tax evasion, as revealed in a court filing on Tuesday.
In addition, Hunter Biden has agreed to enter a pretrial diversion program in connection with a federal felony charge of possessing a firearm as an unlawful user or addict of illegal drugs. The filing, made by prosecutors in U.S. District Court in Delaware, indicated that such diversion programs typically result in the dismissal of the related criminal charge if the defendant fulfills the conditions of the agreement for a designated period.
According to sources familiar with the plea deal, cited by NBC News, U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump and retained his position after Joe Biden’s election, will recommend probation as the sentence for the tax crimes.
Weiss has filed two charging documents, referred to as “informations,” against Hunter Biden—one for the tax crimes and another for the firearm charge. Informations are commonly used by prosecutors when defendants have agreed to plead guilty.
The information pertaining to the tax crimes alleges that Hunter Biden had taxable income exceeding $1.5 million in both 2017 and 2018 but failed to pay income tax for either of those years. The filing states that he owed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over $100,000 in taxes for each of those years.
The tax charges carry a maximum possible sentence of 12 months in prison.
Regarding the gun charge, the information states that Hunter Biden possessed a Colt Cobra .38-caliber revolver for an 11-day period in October 2018, despite knowing that he was an unlawful user and addict of a controlled substance.
The maximum possible sentence for the gun charge is 10 years in prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office released a press statement indicating that the investigation is ongoing but provided no further details.
A memorandum outlining the terms of Hunter’s plea agreement and the specifics of the pretrial diversion program will be publicly filed before his scheduled plea hearing, according to a letter from a prosecutor in Weiss’s office to the federal court clerk in Delaware.
Hunter Biden, who has struggled with substance abuse for many years, paid the federal income taxes for 2017 and 2018 that he had previously failed to pay in 2022.
White House spokesman Ian Sams issued a statement to NBC News expressing the President and First Lady’s support for their son as he works on rebuilding his life and stating that they would not comment further.
Hunter’s criminal defense lawyer, Chris Clark, stated that with the announcement of the agreements, his client’s five-year investigation has come to a resolution. Clark explained that Hunter will take responsibility for two instances of misdemeanor failure to file tax payments on time as part of the plea agreement. He also noted that a separate firearm charge will be subject to a pretrial diversion program and will not be included in the plea agreement.
Clark emphasized that Hunter acknowledges the importance of taking responsibility for these mistakes made during a tumultuous period of his life and his commitment to continued recovery and moving forward.
Former President Donald Trump, who is currently facing federal charges related to alleged illegal retention of classified documents after leaving the White House, criticized Hunter Biden’s plea deal on his Truth Social platform. Trump described the deal as a mere “traffic ticket” and lamented what he perceived as a broken system.
Later on Truth Social, Trump commented on the public response to the Hunter Biden case, stating, “People are going wild over the Hunter Biden Scam with the DOJ!”
