Hunter Biden enters surprise guilty plea to tax evasion charges

Hunter Biden, right, and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden, arrive in federal court for jury selection for his trial on felony tax charges Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LOS ANGELES – After a volley of legal arguments and objections from prosecutors, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty Thursday to federal tax-evasion charges, just as jury selection was set to begin in the trial of the president’s son in downtown Los Angeles.

Biden, 54, of Malibu, made an open plea to the court, meaning there are no guarantees about what sentence he could receive. He admitted all nine charges he was facing — three felonies and six misdemeanors. US District Judge Mark Scarsi told Biden he could potentially face up to 15 years in prison along with fines ranging as high as $1 million.

Scarsi set sentencing for Dec. 16. Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, initially said Biden wanted to enter what is known as an “Alford plea,” under which he pleads guilty but continues to maintain his innocence. Lowell said Biden recognized that prosecutors’ evidence was “overwhelming” and would likely lead to his conviction in a trial.

Prosecutor Leo Wise strongly objected to the idea of an Alford plea, insisting that Biden is demonstrably guilty, and it would be an injustice to allow him to maintain his innocence.

After multiple court recesses and legal discussions, Biden ultimately was sworn in to enter his open plea to the court, with his attorney saying Biden wanted to resolve the case — which dated back to a time when he was addicted to drugs.

Before the plea was officially entered, Wise insisted on reading the entire indictment against Biden, which is more than 50 pages, into the record.

Jury selection had been scheduled to begin Thursday morning in Biden’s trial, and 100 prospective panelists were summoned to the downtown courthouse.

But Lowell’s surprise announcement that Biden was prepared to plead guilty upended those proceedings.

The indictment accused Biden of failing to pay more than $1.4 million in taxes. Prosecutors contended that Biden “spent millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills.”

Defense lawyers said previously they believe the case was brought “in direct response to political pressure,” according to filings in Los Angeles federal court.

Hunter Biden’s attorneys said the defendant has repaid the government $2 million in back taxes and penalties. He was charged with evading a tax assessment, failing to file and pay taxes, and filing a false or fraudulent tax return.

His trial was expected to last two weeks, with opening statements anticipated Monday in the courtroom of Scarsi, an appointee of former President Donald Trump.

Evidence of the younger Biden’s partying during a period when he was admittedly using crack cocaine and allegedly willfully failed to pay more than $1.4 million in taxes were expected to become part of the trial, federal prosecutors indicated.

Scarsi previously rejected Hunter Biden’s bid to toss the case after the defendant sought to argue that David Weiss, the special counsel overseeing the prosecution, was improperly appointed.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Biden’s request to revive the bid to have the charges against him dismissed.

Regarding the tax charges, the 56-page indictment alleged that between 2016 and Oct. 15, 2020, “the defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes.”

One of Hunter Biden’s attorneys, veteran Los Angeles criminal lawyer Mark Geragos, unsuccessfully petitioned the court to allow testimony that the death of the defendant’s mother and sister in a 1972 car crash and the death of his brother from cancer in 2015 caused him to ignore his tax obligations.

In June, Biden was convicted of three felony charges in a separate case brought in Delaware stemming from his 2018 purchase of a gun. He was found guilty of having lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs — when, in fact, he later admitted to having been addicted to illegal narcotics at the time.

Biden is scheduled to be sentenced in the Delaware gun case on Nov. 13, in the week after the presidential election.

Described in the indictment as a Georgetown- and Yale-educated lawyer, lobbyist, consultant and businessperson, Hunter Biden served on the board of a Ukrainian industrial conglomerate and a Chinese private equity fund during the time of the tax allegations.

“He negotiated and executed contracts and agreements for business and legal services that paid millions of dollars of compensation to him and/or his domestic corporations, Owasco PC and Owasco LLC,” according to the indictment for tax evasion.

In addition to his business interests, the defendant was an employee of a multinational law firm, the document states.

Hunter Biden has said he had forgotten to pay his taxes during a period when he was in the grip of drug addiction. (CNS)