Rishika Aradhya, Pune
Hunter Biden, the son of U.S. President Joe Biden, is scheduled to plead guilty on Wednesday to two misdemeanor charges of deliberately failing to pay income taxes as part of a bargain that will keep him from facing a gun-related charge.
Prosecutors claim that the younger Biden failed to pay taxes on more than $1.5 million in income in 2017 and 2018, despite owing more than $100,000.
In a second case, he was charged with criminal possession of a firearm while addicted to and using a controlled narcotic. The younger Biden has engaged in a pretrial diversion deal with federal prosecutors in Delaware for that case, which is an alternative to prosecution that permits defendants to avoid a conviction or prison time.
The hearing takes place as Democratic President Joe Biden is in the midst of a re-election campaign that might put him against former President Donald Trump, the current Republican front-runner for the 2024 election.
Republicans have accused Hunter Biden of using his father’s political power for personal gain in his operations in Ukraine and China for years, but the investigation by U.S. Attorney David Weiss of Delaware, a Trump appointee, has found no evidence to back up such charges.
The news of the plea deal in June drew claims of preferential treatment for the president’s son from Trump and his Republican allies, who have long accused the younger Biden of foreign influence-peddling, among other things.
These charges prompted Weiss to launch a criminal investigation, and he was permitted to stay in office when Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, breaking with precedent.
The tax accusations could result in a prison sentence of up to 18 months, but legal experts believe Hunter Biden will avoid prison because he has no past criminal history and has accepted responsibility for his acts.