Joe Biden's son has pleaded not guilty to federal tax-related charges filed after the collapse of a plea agreement that could have spared him the spectacle of a criminal trial during the 2024 election campaign.
Hunter Biden He was charged with nine felonies and a misdemeanor tax offense.
The charges stem from what federal prosecutors say was a four-year scheme to evade paying the $1.4 million (£1.1 million) he owed the IRS and instead use the money to finance an extravagant lifestyle that included drugs and alcohol.
The judge set a tentative trial date for June 20 during the half-hour hearing.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden was also charged in Delaware with lying in October 2018 on a federal form to gun buyers when he swore he did not use or be addicted to illegal drugs.
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He was addicted to cocaine at the time.
He is also charged with illegal gun possession and has pleaded not guilty in the case.
The charges all come from a years-long federal investigation into Hunter Biden's tax and business dealings, which was expected to end over the summer with a plea deal under which he would have received two years of probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor tax charges.
He would also have avoided prosecution on gun charges if he stayed out of trouble.
The deal fell apart when a federal judge who was expected to approve the deal began questioning it instead.
Hunter Biden's original proposed plea deal with prosecutors was mocked as a “sweetheart deal” by Republicans, including Donald Trump.
The former president faces his own criminal troubles — 91 charges in four separate cases, including plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden, a Democrat.
he is too He appeared in court on Thursday In New York for closing arguments in a civil fraud trial.
