Hunter Biden plans to plead guilty in his federal tax case, his defense attorney said in court Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
President Biden’s son is accused of withholding at least $1.4 million between 2016 and 2019, in the heat of his addiction to crack cocaine. He faces nine charges, three of which are felonies, and has pleaded not guilty.
The trial was expected to begin Thursday with jury selection.
Biden’s tax trial follows a separate criminal trial on gun charges, which ended earlier this year in a conviction for lying about his use of illicit drugs on a federal gun purchase form. It marked the first criminal conviction of a sitting U.S. president’s child – and the tax trial threatens a second.
That conviction significantly heightened the stakes of the second trial, which could hold higher penalties for Biden if found guilty since he would no longer be a first-time offender.
Biden’s sentencing in the gun case is scheduled for Nov. 13.
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