BREAKING: Hunter Biden Makes Surprise Guilty Plea In Tax Evasion Trial, Sentencing Date Set

On Thursday, the president's son, Hunter Biden, pleaded guilty in a surprise move in the tax evasion case brought against him in California by special counsel David Weiss. The guilty plea comes after Hunter's attorney, Abbe Lowell, attempted to avoid trial by entering an Alford plea, which would have allowed Hunter to maintain his innocence but agree that there was enough evidence to convict. Prosecutors rejected the Alford plea attempt.

"Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty," prosecutor Leo Wise explained to United States District Court for the Central District of California Judge Mark Scarsi. After the Alford plea was rejected, the defense came back and agreed to plead guilty to the charges against their client in a clear move to avoid an embarrassing trial. Hunter's guilty plea will make him accountable for three felonies and six misdemeanors, including tax evasion, filing a false tax return, and failing to pay taxes between 2016 and 2019. Despite over 100 jurors assembling to begin the first day of the trial, Hunter Biden's surprise move will avoid a trial altogether and move straight to sentencing.

Judge Scarsi set the sentencing hearing for December 13. The president's son could face a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison and a fine of over $1 million. The indictment against him alleges that Hunter failed to pay owed taxes beginning in 2015 and instead lived an "extravagant" lifestyle. Special counsel David Weiss alleged in his indictment that Hunter "engaged in a four-year scheme to not pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about October 15, 2020, and to evade the assessment of taxes for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020."

The trial against the president's son is the second high-profile case against him in the past year. In June, Biden was found guilty by a Delaware jury for making false statements on ATF Form 4473 while purchasing his Cobra Colt .38 in October 2018, claiming that he wasn't addicted to drugs. The 12 Delaware residents also found him guilty of possessing a firearm while addicted to an illegal substance.

In the Delaware case, Hunter is facing up to 25 years in prison, and the judge could make him pay upwards of a $250,000 fine per offense. However, Hunter's sentence will be up to U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika. The court ordered Biden to appear for sentencing on November 13, just days after the presidential election on November 5.

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