First son Hunter Biden’s legal problems may have gone away if his father had stayed in the race and successfully won reelection in November, but now that he has decided to drop out, Hunter’s legal fortunes may be about to take a turn for the worse. A report over the weekend noted that Hunter is set to be sentenced on November 13 after a jury convicted him of federal firearms charges earlier this year.
In June, a jury convicted Hunter Biden on charges related to his purchase and possession of a firearm while addicted to crack cocaine. Biden had falsely declared on a federal form that he was not using drugs when he attempted to buy the firearm. Initially, he was set to accept a plea deal that would have allowed him to avoid jail time, but the deal was ultimately rejected by a federal judge.
Last month, Hunter withdrew his request for a new trial following strong criticism from federal prosecutors for his “misunderstanding of appellate practice” and “failure to read” prior court orders. The 54-year-old, convicted on June 11 of three counts related to falsely obtaining a firearm by lying about his drug addiction, sought a new trial on June 24. He argued that Delaware federal Judge Maryellen Noreika lacked jurisdiction over his trial due to pending appeals.
However, prosecutors from Special Counsel David Weiss’ office countered in their response that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia had already authorized Noreika to proceed with the trial, a key detail apparently overlooked by Hunter and his legal team, the New York Post reported.
“[W]hen trial began on June 3, the Third Circuit had already dismissed both of the defendant’s appeals with orders stamped ‘in Lieu of Mandate’ and denied his petition for rehearing,” wrote prosecutor Derek Hines in Monday’s filing, adding later: “While the defendant repeatedly insisted before trial that his appeals divested this Court of jurisdiction, this is the first time he has spun this laughable tale of the mystery of the missing mandates. But both dismissal orders are plainly stamped ‘Issued in Lieu of Mandate’ and provide no basis for this Court to reconsider its earlier rulings with respect to jurisdiction when non-appealable orders are appealed.”
Lead Biden defense attorney Abbe Lowell filed a brief, weak reply at the time, admitting: “As it appears that the Third Circuit views issuing a certified order ‘in lieu’ of a mandate as compliant with … procedure for shortening the time for issuance of a mandate, Mr. Biden withdraws his motion.”
Hunter, who has come under intense scrutiny following Joe Biden’s widely criticized June 27 debate against Donald Trump, faces a potential maximum of 25 years in prison after his recent conviction. Despite the severity of the potential maximum sentence, it is unlikely Noreika will hand down such a harsh penalty, as federal sentencing guidelines typically call for less severe punishments.
Hunter is set to face another trial starting September 5 in Los Angeles, where he is charged with evading $1.4 million in taxes over the years 2016 through 2019. Additionally, an earlier appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which federal prosecutors criticized as a tactic to delay the trial, was dismissed in mid-May.
