Hunter Biden Pleads Guilty in Tax Case

The guilty plea now exposes President Biden’s son to a likely outcome that once seemed unthinkable: significant time behind bars.

Hunter Biden pleaded guilty on Thursday to nine federal tax charges in Los Angeles after telling his legal team that he refused to subject his family to another round of anguish and humiliation after a gut-wrenching gun trial in Delaware three months ago.

The dramatic development signaled the final stages of a fraught investigation of more than five years into the period when Mr. Biden bankrolled his uncontrollable drug and alcohol addiction by leveraging his last name into lucrative overseas consulting contracts — and not paying taxes.

This was a plea without a deal, a unilateral decision by defense lawyers persuaded they could not prevail in the trial — and not part of a settlement that included a reduced punishment.

Mr. Biden, 54, speaking in a low and clipped voice as he sat at the defense table, repeated the word “guilty” nine times as Judge Mark C. Scarsi ticked off each charge.

He will remain free on bond until his sentencing hearing in mid-December.

The plea now exposes President Biden’s son to a likely outcome that seemed unthinkable last year, when his lawyers were on the cusp of a no-prison plea agreement: significant time behind bars. He now faces a maximum prison sentence of up to 17 years or a fine of up to $1.3 million, on top of the possible sentence of 25 years after being convicted of lying on a firearms application in Delaware in June.