What's next for Hunter Biden? Sentencing, likely appeal and looming trial on tax charges
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WASHINGTON - Hunter Biden’s conviction in his federal gun trial is not the end of his legal drama.
Still pending are the 54-year-old's sentence, his potential appeal and a Supreme Court case that could overturn the law behind his charges. The president's son − a lawyer, businessman and author − also faces a second federal trial on tax charges set to begin Sept. 5 in Los Angeles.
Tuesday's verdict comes after a plea bargain fell apart last July that would have resolved gun and tax charges likely with no prison time for Hunter Biden. Instead, he became the first offspring of a sitting president to be charged, face trial and be convicted.
The jury's judgment carries political implications as Democratic President Joe Biden campaigns for reelection against the presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump. Congressional Republicans have investigated Hunter Biden's foreign business deals, which fueled the tax charges pending in his second trial, for possible influence peddling. Joe Biden told ABC News he wouldn't pardon his son.
Here is what we know about pending litigating affecting Biden:
Federal sentencing guidelines for Biden range from 15 to 21 months
Biden faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison for the three charges: lying on a federal screening form by denying, lying to a gun dealer and possession of a firearm while using or addicted to unlawful drugs. But sentences for first-time and nonviolent offenders are typically shorter than the maximum possible.
Biden’s sentencing could be months or longer as officials prepare a report based on guidelines about the length of sentences in similar cases. Factors can lead to adjustments based on the defendant's criminal record and behavior that may be helpful in correctional treatment.
Typically, a federal probation officer will interview the defendant and prepare a report before sentencing. Prosecutors and defense lawyers also file memos arguing what type of sentence the judge should impose.
Federal guidelines call for a sentence of 15 to 21 months for Biden. Legal experts said defendants often get shorter sentences and are less likely to be incarcerated if they comply with rules of pretrial release.
Biden expected to appeal gun conviction
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected several requests to dismiss the gun charges, but defense lawyer Abbe Lowell has said he would continue pursuing legal challenges.
Lowell accused Justice Department special counsel David Weiss of prosecuting Biden vindictively because few people are charged under the law wielded in Biden's case. House Republicans criticized the "sweetheart deal" the plea agreement offered Biden that Noreika rejected. Lowell has argued Weiss sought an indictment despite a lack of additional evidence because of the criticism, an accusation the prosecutor denied and called "fiction designed for a Hollywood script."
Noreika and Weiss were each appointed by Trump.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in May that Biden had to wait until after the verdict to appeal several of Noreika's rulings against dismissing the charges.
Appeals panel already rejected using failed plea bargain to dismiss case
The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already rejected one of Lowell’s repeated arguments that the failed plea agreement should have prevented the later indictment and trial.
The plea bargain would have allowed Biden to avoid prosecution on a gun charge if he remained sober for two years and wasn’t charged again under a so-called diversion agreement. But prosecutors opposed granting Biden immunity based on the proposed agreement because the probation office never approved the agreement, rendering it moot.
“Because the agreement never went into effect, the Government was free to withdraw it, which it did, in writing, on August 9, 2023,” prosecutor Leo Wise wrote in a filing.
A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled the abandoned agreement didn't prevent future prosecution.
“Non-prosecution agreements do not implicate a right not to be tried or any other right that can be” appealed, a three-judge appeals panel ruled in May.
The decision cited previous rulings in appeals circuits including D.C., the New York-based 2nd, the St. Louis-based 8th and Denver-based 10th.
The appeals panel also rejected Biden’s request for review of the rejected plea agreement under a provision called “mandamus,” which the judges said is reserved as an “extreme” and “extraordinary” remedy to avoid irreparable injury.
“The defendant does not meet that standard, so his request for a writ of mandamus is denied,” the panel ruled.
Supreme Court decision pending in challenge to gun statute
The law that served as a foundation for the charges against Biden has been challenged by gun-rights advocates for years. A 2022 Supreme Court decision overturned a New York law by ruling any gun restrictions must be "consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation," which opened the door to a flood of challenges to firearms regulations.
In one case, Zackey Rahimi’s lawyers appealed his conviction under a law – the same one used to charge Biden – prohibiting him from owning a gun because of a protective order his girlfriend got against him.
The law at stake in the court battles is 18 USC 922, which in nearly four out of five cases is used to stop convicted felons from possessing a firearm. But the section of code contains lesser-known provisions prohibiting gun possession for other reasons, such as for drug use or addiction, the charge against Biden.
Like Rahimi, Lowell argued in Biden’s case the charges were unconstitutional. Despite his son's legal challenge, President Biden has advocated making gun background checks even tighter.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule this month in Rahimi’s case.
Biden's tax trial starts Sept. 5
Weiss declined to take questions after making a three-minute statement about the gun verdict because of the pending trial against Biden.
"Our work continues," Weiss said of prosecutors including Leo Wise and Derek Hines, who he said had been working seven-day weeks for months.
U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi set Biden’s trial in Los Angeles on nine tax charges for Sept. 5, after Lowell asked for more time to prepare between trials, after the tax case was initially set for June 20.
The plea agreement had called for Biden to admit two misdemeanors for not paying taxes in 2017 and 2018. But Weiss secured an indictment on three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanors.
Biden allegedly engaged in a scheme in which he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed taxes from 2016 through 2019, and also evaded tax assessment for 2018 when he filed false returns, according to the California tax indictment.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What's next for Hunter Biden? Sentencing, appeal – and another trial
