US President, Biden’s son charged with tax, gun offences
US President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, has been charged with tax and gun offences.
He is expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanour tax crimes and admit to illegally possessing a gun while a drug user, after a five-year investigation.
The US Attorney in Delaware has filed papers indicating a plea agreement has been reached, according to BBC News.
He is expected to agree to drug treatment and monitoring and the terms of the agreement are likely to keep him out of jail.
The proposed deal would still need to be approved by a judge. However, it is unclear when Hunter Biden will appear in court to enter his guilty plea on the tax charges.
He will admit to felony gun possession as part of a “pre-trial diversion agreement” that is separate from the plea deal, his lawyer Chris Clark said in a statement.
“I know Hunter believes it is important to take responsibility for these mistakes he made during a period of turmoil and addiction in his life,” Mr Clark added. “He looks forward to continuing his recovery and moving forward.”
Hunter Biden has previously worked as a lawyer, and a lobbyist including abroad in China and Ukraine. He was discharged from the US Navy in 2014 after testing positive for cocaine.
The plea deal brings to an end a long-running justice department investigation into whether he properly reported his income and made false statements on paperwork used to purchase a firearm in 2018.
The two misdemeanour tax charges stem from a failure to pay taxes in 2017 and 2018, which have now been fully repaid.
The gun charge stems from a 2018 purchase of a firearm while a drug user.
In a 2021 book, the younger Mr Biden admitted to being a heavy user of crack cocaine at that time.
But he reportedly said “no” on a federal form asking if he was “an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug or any other controlled substance”.
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