by WorldTribune Staff, September 6, 2024 Contract With Our Readers
Hunter Biden unexpectedly pleaded guilty in his federal tax evasion case at the conclusion of a tumultous hearing on Sept. 5 that shocked prosecutors who had told the judge their investigation was still active.
Los Angeles federal Judge Mark Scarsi accepted the plea from the disgraced first son on all nine counts he faced in a case accusing him of failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes for the years 2016 through 2019.
Hunter Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell earlier told Judge Mark Scarsi that his client wanted to enter an Alford plea – allowing him to plead guilty but maintain his innocence.
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After a 3-hour recess, prosecutor Leo Wise told the judge that the federal government wanted the legal maneuver to be rejected.
“We were as shocked as anyone in the courtroom this morning,” Wise said. “I don’t know how the defendant could maintain his innocence and agree the facts are true.”
Biden could face up to 17 years behind bars, the same penalty the would have faced if convicted at trial.
“Hunter decided to enter his plea to protect those he loves from unnecessary hurt and cruel humiliation,” Biden’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell said after a series of long breaks.
“This plea prevents that kind of show trial that would not have provided all the facts or served any real point in justice. He will now move on to the sentencing phase, while keeping open the options to raise the many clear issues with this case on appeal.”
In the end, the first son went forward with the standard guilty plea, after attempting to enter the Alford plea – allowing him to plead guilty but maintain his innocence.
“Do you agree you committed every element of every crime in the indictment?” Scarsi asked Hunter Biden.
“Yes,” Biden responded, before stating “guilty” when pressed on how he pleaded to each charge.
He will be sentenced on Dec. 16, weeks after the 2024 presidential election.
The 54-year-old Biden son also faces 25 years behind bars when he’s sentenced for his gun charges conviction in November.
Los Angeles former prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the New York Post that taking a plea without negotiating a deal, suggested that President Biden planned to pardon his son.
“For Biden’s lawyer to do something like this means they probably have a pardon lined up,” Rahmani said. “Otherwise you would always negotiate some plea agreement.”
President Biden has repeatedly vowed that he does not plan to pardon his son .
“It is still very much a no to the questions I’ve gotten about if the president is going to pardon his son,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, adding the president also doesn’t plan to commute Hunter’s sentence.
