Darren Lyn
19 September 2024•Update: 19 September 2024
HOUSTON, United States
A federal judge agreed Thursday to delay sentencing in Hunter Biden's criminal gun charges case until December, according to media reports.
President Joe Biden's son was convicted in a federal court in the state of Delaware in June of three felonies related to illegally purchasing a firearm in 2018.
He was found guilty of lying about his drug use on a federal form when purchasing a revolver, and illegally possessing the gun while being addicted to drugs.
The younger Biden was originally scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 13, but his lawyers said they needed more time to prepare for the case and the judge agreed to a three-week delay, rescheduling the hearing until Dec. 4.
The charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, but legal experts said Biden will likely face far less time behind bars or even avoid imprisonment completely.
Biden was set to face a second criminal trial in the state of California this month on nine federal tax-related charges, but he agreed to plead guilty and sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 16, nearly two weeks after the newly rescheduled hearing.
After pleading guilty to the tax charges, Biden said he wanted to spare his family another painful ordeal after embarrassing details were revealed during the gun trial that he struggled with a crack cocaine addiction.
"I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment," Biden said at the time. "For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty."
Biden faces up to 17 years behind bars in the tax case sentencing. He also faces up to $1.35 million in fines.
President Biden, who dropped his presidential reelection bid in July, said he would not use the powers of his office to pardon his son or lessen his sentence.
