Hunter Biden reveals he pleaded guilty to tax evasion to avoid another 'humiliation' for his family

Hunter Biden has plead guilty to nine tax evasion offenses. The president's son could face a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison or a fine of up to $1.3 million, and an additional sentence of up to 25 years after being convicted of lying on a Delaware firearms application could be added. Following the admission of guilt, Hunter Biden offered an explanation for his actions.

The son of the sitting president released a statement Thursday afternoon to justify pleading guilty to tax evasion in Los Angeles.

"I went to trial in Delaware not realizing the anguish it would cause my family, and I will not put them through it again. When it became clear to me that the same prosecutors were focused not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my actions during my addiction, there was only one path left for me. (...) I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment. For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty," he began.

"Like millions of Americans, I failed to file and pay my taxes on time. For that I am responsible. As I have stated, addiction is not an excuse, but it is an explanation for some of my failures at issue in this case. When I was addicted, I wasn’t thinking about my taxes, I was thinking about surviving," Biden finished.

As for the charges, he was facing charges for a "four-year scheme" in which he failed to pay federal income taxes while filing false tax reports.

The case was in the hands of prosecutor David Weiss, who noted a few months ago that the scheme was put together to avoid paying "at least $1.4 million in self-assessed federal taxes he owed for tax years 2016 through 2019, from in or about January 2017 through in or about Oct. 15, 2020, and to evade tax assessment for tax year 2018 when he filed false returns in or about February 2020."