Hunter Biden entered a guilty plea today in federal court in Los Angeles, acknowledging all charges in a nine-count indictment. This includes three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses, with no plea agreement in place.
Judge Scarsi accepted the plea and has set sentencing for December 16, 2024.
The indictment outlines a four-year scheme in which Biden failed to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes owed from 2016 to 2019. It alleges that he attempted to evade tax assessments for 2018 by submitting false returns. Specific actions taken by Biden included:
– Manipulating the payroll process of his own company to withdraw millions without tax withholdings.
– Spending significant amounts on a lavish lifestyle instead of addressing his tax obligations.
– Ceasing payment on overdue taxes for 2015 in 2018.
– Failing to pay taxes owed for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 on time, despite having sufficient funds.
– Not filing his tax returns for 2017 and 2018 punctually.
– When he eventually filed his 2018 returns, he included false business deductions to lessen his tax liability, which was considerable as of February 2020.
At the sentencing, Hunter Biden could face a maximum of 17 years in prison, although federal sentences are often less than the maximum. The actual sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge, considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant factors.