Los Angeles (United States), September 5 (EFE).- Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, pleaded guilty this Thursday to nine counts of tax evasion in a Californian court to avoid facing a new criminal trial, although he is not exempt from a possible prison sentence for the case.
The president’s son pleaded guilty shortly before jury selection began in a trial in which he was accused of failing to pay about $1.4 million in federal taxes over a four-year period, from 2016 to 2019.
Hunter Biden’s decision, which represents a surprising turn in the case, was taken to prevent his family from re-filing a second trial against him, as he said in a statement, since he had already been convicted in a gun possession case last June.
The US president’s son will remain free on bail until his sentencing, scheduled for mid-December, once the November presidential election is over, according to the New York Times.
In this case, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 17 years and a fine of up to $1.3 million, which could be added to another sentence of up to 25 years in prison if he is convicted in another pending case.
Hunter Biden has been charged with nine counts, including failure to file and pay taxes and filing false or fraudulent tax returns, according to court documents.
According to prosecutors, “he spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle instead of paying his taxes.”
The prosecution is being led by special prosecutor David Weiss, the same prosecutor who charged him earlier this year with three counts of hiding his addictions by acquiring a gun in 2018.
This is the second time the president’s son has been named in the dock after being found guilty on June 2 by a Delaware court of three counts of illegally purchasing and possessing weapons.
In this case, which set a precedent in US history as it was the first time that the son of an active president was convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
