Hunter Biden plead guilty to all nine counts in his $1.4 million tax evasion case on Thursday afternoon, with a U.S. district court judge approving the deal within hours.
Biden, 54, was facing three felony counts of tax evasion and six more misdemeanor counts for dodging $1.4 million in taxes, attempting to write off payments to sex workers as a business expense and spending “millions of dollars on an extravagant lifestyle rather than paying his tax bills,” according to his indictment.
The court had already begun the process of voir dire, fielding over 100 potential jurors earlier in the day.
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Prosecutor Leo Wise told Scarsi in court on Thursday that Hunter “is not entitled to plead guilty on special terms that apply only to him.”
Wise pressed deeper, telling the court “Hunter Biden is guilty,” questioning “will Mr. Biden agree that that is the truth? Because the truth matters.”
U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi then prodded Biden: “Do you agree that you committed every element of every crime alleged... in the indictment?”
He replied simply: “Yes.”
Scarsi told the court that Hunter could face up to 17 years in prison and a $1.35 million fine, adding that Hunter will be sentenced on Dec. 16.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged when asked about President Joe Biden’s reaction to his son’s guilty plea on Thursday, telling reporters she was “not able to comment.” Jean-Pierre added that the President had no plans to pardon Hunter, according to the Associated Press.
Hunter had previously intended to maintain his innocence while conceding the prosecution has evidence against him worthy of a conviction—also known as an Alford plea, attorney Abbe Lowell told the court.
Lowell added that he had come to “no agreement” with the prosecution over the plea, adding he didn’t “think we would agree under conventional plea circumstances,” in which the prosecution would set the terms.
Hunter was convicted of three federal gun charges in June after he was found guilty of making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
President Biden has said “I am not going to do anything” when asked whether he would pardon his son, adding that he was “satisfied” with the outcome of the trial.
