Hunter Biden will appear in court in Delaware to answer federal firearms charges

 Hunter Biden will appear in court in Delaware to answer federal firearms charges

On Tuesday, Hunter Biden, the president's son, is anticipated to enter a not guilty plea to the allegations of illegally possessing a weapon.

The 53-year-old Mr. Biden is accused of lying on application paperwork about his drug use when he bought the handgun in 2018.

Although Mr. Biden has admitted to being a serious crack user at the time, he disputes breaking the law.

If found guilty on the three federal offenses, he could spend up to 25 years in jail.

In July, a potential plea arrangement to resolve the allegations abruptly collapsed, leading to Mr. Biden's indictment shortly after.

He was accused of illegally possessing a firearm on one count and two charges of making false statements. The allegations are all connected to the revolver he bought in Delaware in October 2018 and maintained for about 11 days.

According to Mr. Biden's own admission, which was made public in a memoir from 2021, he was going through a "full-blown addiction" at the time.

The accusations that Mr. Biden lied about his drug usage on the forms are the basis for two of the criminal counts against him, each of which carries a maximum 10-year sentence. His usage of drugs while in possession of a handgun is the subject of a third count that carries a maximum five-year sentence.

Abbe Lowell, the attorney for Mr. Biden, stated that his client will submit a not-guilty plea in a court filing made in September, when his legal team unsuccessfully tried to have him appear in court virtually rather than in person.

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The Bidens' hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, is the location of his court appearance.

Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter's brother Beau, discovered the gun at the center of the investigation in his car. According to reports, Ms. Biden put the firearm into a trash can out of concern that he may hurt himself.

It was later found and brought back to the business, but not before Delaware police and the US Secret Service launched independent investigations.

Hunter Biden's legal team and prosecutors came to a two-part agreement in June, under which he consented to confess illegally possessing a firearm and get addiction treatment and supervision. He would also face two misdemeanor counts for failing to make his tax payments on time in 2017 and 2018 under the terms of that arrangement.

But the agreement, which would have protected Mr. Biden from felony accusations and possible incarceration, broke down in July. Judge Maryellen Noreika stated that she was unable to "rubber stamp" the arrangement. She also referred to the planned resolution of the gun allegation in the agreement as "unusual".

Although the tax charges were dropped in August, prosecutors plan to re-file them or bring new ones in California or Washington DC.

In a complaint filed against the Internal Revenue Service at the beginning of September, Mr. Biden said that two of the agency's agents "sought to target and embarrass" him by disclosing personal tax information.

Hunter Biden might be subject to a criminal trial as his father runs for re-election as president as a result of the case.