Verdict reached in Hunter Biden gun trial
WILMINGTON, Del. — A jury reached a verdict Tuesday in the federal trial of first son Hunter Biden on charges of lying about being hooked on drugs in order to purchase a gun.
The jury of six men and six women will be brought into the courtroom shortly to announce their decision after debating for just over three hours across two days.
If Hunter, 54, is found guilty on all three charges, he will face a maximum of 25 years in prison at his sentencing, though prosecutors from special counsel David Weiss’ office are unlikely to seek that penalty.
The government claims that President Biden’s son fibbed on a gun application form by indicating that he was not a drug user when he bought a .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver from a Wilmington gun store on Oct. 12, 2018, despite later acknowledging being in the throes of a deep crack cocaine dependency.
Prosecutors did not need to prove that the Biden scion was high the day of the purchase, but they did need to convince the jury that he “knowingly” lied on the gun application form.
The jury heard from three of the Biden son’s exes about his drug use — which one said was as frequent as every 20 minutes.
Follow the latest on Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial:
- Hunter Biden guilty of felony gun charges, faces 25 years in prison
- Joe Biden reveals whether he will pardon Hunter after first son convicted on felony gun charges in first comments since verdict
- Hunter Biden breaks silence after felony gun conviction, says he’s ‘disappointed’ by outcome
- Hunter Biden juror reveals the damning evidence that lead to conviction at gun trial
- Here’s what’s next for Hunter Biden following his conviction on gun charges
The last of the three to testify was Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter’s brother, Beau Biden, with whom Hunter had a romantic relationship after his sibling’s 2015 death from brain cancer.
Hallie testified that she was introduced to the highly addictive street drug through the younger Biden and how she used for a period of time in 2018 — a fact of which she said she was “embarrassed” and “ashamed.”
Meanwhile, Hunter’s lawyers argued that their client was struggling with alcoholism, not drug abuse, around the time of the gun purchase and claimed that there wasn’t any eyewitness testimony that he’d been on drugs around the 11-day period when he owned the gun before Hallie tossed it in a grocery store trash can on Oct. 23, 2018.
Hunter’s team also claimed he couldn’t have “knowingly” lied on the gun application form because he was in a “deep state of denial” about his addiction.
The embattled first son still has another legal hurdle to clear when an unrelated trial, slated to start on Sept. 5, begins in Los Angeles over allegations he skipped out on paying $1.4 million in federal income tax for the years 2016 through 2019.
Hunter has pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faces.
