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Hunter Biden guilty in firearms criminal trial
The criminal charges relate to your purchase of a Colt Cobra pistol from a Delaware gun store in October 2018 while he was an active illegal drug user.
Biden, who admitted to being addicted to cocaine and alcohol, was accused of lying on a federally required form he filled out in connection with the sale, where he said he was not an illegal user of or addicted to narcotics.
He is the first son of a sitting US president to be tried in a criminal case.
The verdict came nearly three weeks after former president donald trump – who will face President Biden in the November elections – was convicted in a New York state court of falsifying business records related to a secret 2016 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Hunter Biden looked directly at the jury and nodded slightly as three guilty verdicts were read, eight days into the trial and after only about three hours of juror deliberation.
First lady Jill Biden entered the courtroom after the verdict was announced, as did her aunt, Valerie Biden Owens.
Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, was in the room when the verdict was read.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 3, 2024, in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden is on trial on felony gun charges.
Money-making Anna | Getty Images
The verdict came after a trial that included testimony from his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, Hallie Biden, who is the widow of his brother Beau Biden and Hunter’s third former romantic partner.
Hallie Biden, who told jurors she smoked crack cocaine at Hunter’s suggestion while she was in a romantic relationship with him, testified that she found the gun he bought in her car 11 days after buying it. She testified that she threw the gun near a supermarket.
In a statement Tuesday, Biden said, “I am more grateful today for the love and support I received from Melissa, my family, my friends and my community last week than I am disappointed with the outcome.”
“Recovery is possible by the grace of God, and I am blessed to experience this gift one day at a time,” Biden said.
Jurors began deliberating Monday afternoon after hearing closing arguments from prosecutors and Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, and instructions from Judge Maryellen Noreika.
Noreika said she would set Biden’s sentencing date later.
Biden faces a maximum possible prison sentence of 10 years on two of the felony counts and a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison on the third count.
Biden’s lawyer Lowell said in a statement: “We are naturally disappointed in today’s verdict.”
“We respect the jury process and, as we have throughout this case, we will continue to vigorously pursue all legal challenges available to Hunter,” Lowell said.
President Biden is scheduled to speak about gun control at an event Tuesday afternoon.
The president told ABC News last week that he would not grant his son a pardon if he were convicted in this case.
Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden leave federal court after the jury finds him guilty on all three counts in his trial on criminal possession charges of gun, in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, June 11, 2024.
Hannah Beier | Reuters
In a statement Tuesday about Hunter’s sentencing, the president said, “As I said last week, I am the president, but I am also a father.”
“Jill and I love our son and are so proud of the man he is today,” said President Biden. “So many families who have had loved ones struggle with addiction understand the feeling of pride in seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery.”
“As I also said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal,” the president said. “Jill and I will always stand by Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will change that.”
Hunter Biden is separately charged in Los Angeles federal court with failing to pay taxes on more than $1.4 million in income over several years.
In that case, he is scheduled to be tried in September, two months before his father faces Republican Trump in the election.
Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in the money hush case on July 11 in Manhattan Supreme Court. He faces a maximum prison sentence of four years for each of the 34 criminal charges on which he was convicted.
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Biden’s gun case and the second case in Los Angeles were opened last year after a plea deal between Biden and U.S. Attorney David Weiss failed last summer.
Weiss, after being appointed special counsel to the case by the Justice Department, brought the two separate cases against Biden after Judge Noreika questioned the terms of the deal, which likely would have resulted in Biden not receiving prison time after pleading guilty. of tax crimes and entering into a so-called pretrial diversion agreement in the gun case.
The cases also emerged after Republicans in Congress suggested that Weiss, appointed U.S. attorney by Trump, had been too soft in prosecuting Biden.
In a statement released Tuesday regarding the verdict on the gun charges, the Trump campaign said: “This trial was nothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden crime family, who raised tens of millions of dollars from China , Russia and Ukraine. .”
“Corrupt Joe Biden’s reign over the Biden Family Criminal Empire will come to an end on November 5, and never again will a Biden sell access to government for personal profit,” said campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
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