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Hunter Biden offers to change not guilty plea in tax case

 

His offer to accept a guilty verdict arrived just moments before jury selection was due to begin

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Getty Images

Hunter Biden offered to change his not-guilty plea in a federal tax evasion case, his lawyer told the BBC, just moments before the trial was set to begin on Thursday.

He had previously denied prosecutors' accusations that he intentionally avoided paying $1.4m (£1m) in income tax between 2016-2019.

His last-minute reversal, announced in a Los Angeles courtroom as jury selection was about to start, could lead to his second criminal conviction this year.

It will need to be accepted by the judge, and the court is adjourned until 11:00 local time (19:00 BST). Federal prosecutors said they opposed the plea offer.The president's son would like to submit what is known as an Alford plea, a rare form of plea allowing defendants to maintain their innocence while accepting a guilty verdict and sentence.

The government is currently reviewing the law on the issue. Prosecutors told CBS News, the BBC's news partner, it was the first time they heard of a plea change.

Biden had previously sought to toss out the case, arguing that the justice department's investigation was motivated by politics and he was selectively targeted because Republican lawmakers are working to impeach his father.

He also argued that the special counsel on the case, David Weiss, was appointed unlawfully.

These arguments were dismissed by US District Judge Mark Scarsi, who is overseeing the case and is weighing whether to accept Biden's new plea.

The president's son was charged with three felony tax offences and six misdemeanour offences in December. These include failure to file and pay his taxes, tax evasion and filing a false return.

According to the 56-page indictment, Biden earned $7m in income from his foreign business dealings between 2016 and 2019.

The indictment also said he spent nearly $5m during that time period on "everything but his taxes".

Those purchases included drugs, escorts, lavish hotels, luxury cars and clothing, according to the indictment, which Biden allegedly falsely labelled as business expenses.

Prosecutors said Biden's actions amounted to "a four-year scheme".

"In each year in which he failed to pay his taxes, the defendant had sufficient funds available to him to pay some or all of his outstanding taxes when they were due," the indictment said. "But he chose not to pay them."

Without a plea deal, Biden could face up to 17 years in prison if found guilty of all charges.

His tax evasion trial marks the second federal criminal proceeding for Biden this year.

In June, he was found guilty of charges related to gun possession and drug use, becoming the first criminally convicted son of a sitting US president.

Specifically, Biden was convicted on three felony charges connected to his purchase of a revolver, in 2018, while battling a drug addiction, and lying about his drug use on a federal form to buy the gun.

Author: Regan Morris in Los Angeles & Brandon Drenon in Washington

Source: BBC News:

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