Hunter Biden pleads guilty to tax evasion

Hunter Biden pled guilty to nine charges related to tax evasion in a Los Angeles federal courthouse on Thursday, avoiding a second trial as his father President Joe Biden prepares to finish out his term.
Hunter Biden pled guilty to three felony counts and six misdemeanors for evading taxes, failing to pay taxes, and filing a false tax return, according to The New York Times. Prosecutors say Biden owed $1.4 million in federal taxes.
Biden will be sentenced on Dec. 16.
The charges were brought by Department of Justice special counsel David Weiss, who earlier had struck a deal with Biden’s attorneys, but that fell apart when a federal judge noted the investigation into Biden was still open. The deal was criticized for being too lenient.
In June, Biden was found guilty of three felony charges related to making false statements on a gun permit application and possessing a gun when using drugs. He has not been sentenced for those charges yet.
Biden’s decision to plead guilty Thursday came as a surprise to prosecutors. His attorney Abbe Lowell initially said he would enter an “Alford plea,” where the defendant acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction, but doesn’t admit guilt.
After Lowell told District Judge Mark Scarsi about Biden’s decision to change his plea from not guilty, federal prosecutor Leo Wise said “this is the first we are hearing about this,” according to Fox News.
Instead of using the Alford plea, which prosecutors rejected, Biden pled guilty as part of an “open plea,” where, according to NBC News, “a defendant pleads guilty to all the charges and leaves his sentencing fate in the hands of the judge, without an agreed-upon recommendation from prosecutors.”
When asked previously, President Biden said he wouldn’t pardon his son, but that was before Biden announced in July he wouldn’t run for a second term.
But on Thursday, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing that Biden still does not plan to pardon his son.
“It’s still no,” she said.