Hunter Biden is set to be sentenced for his gun crimes on Nov. 13 – one week after the 2024 presidential election.
Newsweek attended the gun trial in Wilmington, Delaware, in June, when the only living son of President Joe Biden was convicted of three felonies stemming from knowingly lying about buying a gun while using drugs in October 2018. The president claimed prior to Hunter’s conviction that he would not pardon his son.
The jury, made up of six men and six women, deliberated for less than three hours after the week-long trial. Biden, 54, showed no emotion when the verdict was delivered to the courtroom filled with reporters, as well as First Lady Jill Biden, and his wife, Melissa Cohen, on June 11.
At the time, Judge Maryellen Noreika stated that sentencing dates are usually set within 120 days of the verdict. The sentencing was set 52 days after the verdict.
Biden could face up to 25 years in prison for his conviction, although it is believed he will not serve time as he is a first-time and nonviolent offender.
Newsweek has contacted Biden’s attorneys for comment.
The first son faces more charges of alleged tax evasion in Los Angeles, which is set to go to trial on September 9. Biden has pleaded not guilty, and his defense attorneys have motioned for the tax case to be dismissed on similar grounds as former President Donald Trump’s tossed classified documents case.
The jury in Biden’s gun trial heard testimony from 10 witnesses for the prosecution along with two for the defense over four days. Among those called by the prosecution were Kathleen Buhle, Biden’s ex-wife, and Hallie Biden, his brother Beau‘s widow and his former lover. Both spoke about his drug use in the 2010s, as did his former girlfriend, Zoe Kestan, whom he met when she was a dancer at a gentleman’s club.
Other witnesses included the man who sold Biden the gun, Gordon Cleveland, and DEA agent Joshua Romig.
Hunter’s daughter, Naomi also gave an emotional testimony, in which she acknowledged her father’s struggles with addiction but said he had seemed to be doing better around the time he purchased the gun.
During closing arguments, prosecutors said they did not have to prove Biden was using at the time he bought the gun, but added that the testimonies spoke for themselves.
“Anyone who holds a crack pipe to their mouth every 15 minutes knows they’re a drug addict,” federal prosecutor David Hines told the jury.
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