Joe Biden’s son Hunter pleaded guilty Thursday to all nine tax counts.
Washington:
Biden’s son Hunter pleaded guilty Thursday in a tax evasion trial, failing to reach the deal he had sought with prosecutors in a case that has been an embarrassment for the US president.
The 54-year-old admitted nine counts related to failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes over the past decade, money prosecutors say he spent on lavish living, working with sex workers and using drugs.
The pleas came on the day jury selection for a trial was set to begin, and hours after Biden offered to plead guilty in hopes of striking a deal that could keep him out of prison.
But no deal was reached, and Biden argued his case in public court.
U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi set sentencing for Dec. 16. Biden faces up to 17 years in prison and a fine of more than $1 million.
The trial was expected to revisit the sordid details of a life that the defendant and his family – including the president – have long acknowledged went off the rails.
“I will not subject my family to further pain, further invasion of privacy and unnecessary embarrassment,” Biden said in a statement, according to US media.
“The prosecutors were not focused on justice, but on dehumanizing me because of my actions during my addiction.”
Biden has already spent much of 2024 in court, having been convicted in Delaware of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun — a felony.
He has not yet been convicted of the crime and faces up to 25 years in prison.
President Biden has the power to pardon his son, but has said he will not do so.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday that her position had not changed.
“It’s still very much a ‘no,'” she said.
– Political battle –
Biden’s lawyers said he was brought to court solely because of his identity.
“They want to smear him because that’s the goal,” Biden lawyer Mark Geragos reportedly said at an August hearing in which he accused prosecutors of attempted defamation.
Biden’s defense team has argued that the tax default was an oversight in a life made chaotic by a growing drug addiction and the trauma of losing his older brother, Beau, to a brain tumor in 2015.
Biden has paid back taxes, as well as penalties imposed by authorities, and had previously reached a plea deal that would have kept him out of prison.
That deal fell through at the last minute, and Biden has since reportedly tried to strike another one.
It has been difficult for prosecutors, whose every move in this election year is being scrutinized by Republicans, who accuse the defendant of being treated leniently because he is the president’s son.
Hunter Biden has served for years as a foil to his father’s political opponents, who have sought — without producing evidence — to smear the family as a group of criminals who gained wealth and power through Biden’s career.
Biden Sr.’s withdrawal from the presidential race in favor of Kamala Harris has eroded much of Republican enthusiasm for making an example of their son.
However, prosecutors seemed unwilling to grant him any leniency.
On Thursday morning, Hunter Biden attempted to enter an Alford plea, in which he would admit guilt because of the high likelihood of conviction but maintain his innocence, but was rebuffed.
“I want to be perfectly clear: The United States opposes an Alford plea,” U.S. Attorney Leo Wise told the court. “Hunter Biden is not innocent, he is guilty.”
In his statement, Biden, who lives in Malibu, said his drug addiction was “not an excuse, but an explanation for some of my failures at issue in this case.”
“I have been clean and sober for over five years because I have had the love and support of my family.
“I can never thank them enough for being there for me and helping me through my worst times.
“But I can protect them from public humiliation for my failures.”
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
ndtv
