A federal judge dismissed the gun case against Hunter Biden after President Biden on Tuesday granted a far-reaching pardon for his son.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika closed the case a week before Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced. He could have faced up to 25 years in prison, although as a first-time offender he likely would have received much less time or avoided prison entirely.
Prosecutors opposed dismissing the case, arguing in court documents that a pardon should not wipe away the case “as if it never happened.” Hunter Biden was convicted of three felonies after lying on a federal form to buy a gun in 2018 by saying he was not a drug user, a period during which he admitted to addiction.
The Justice Department’s special counsel also opposes the dismissal of a case filed in California after Hunter Biden couldn’t pay $1.4 million in taxes. U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi in Los Angeles indicated he would dismiss the case once the pardon is formally received.
Still, Scarsi was critical of the president’s claim that his son was singled out for political reasons. He said two judges had rejected similar arguments from his lawyers.
The president’s decision on Sunday to backtrack on earlier promises and grant his son a blanket federal pardon for actions over the past 11 years has sparked a political uproar in Washington, drawing criticism from both Democrats and Republicans and shattering the legacy of Biden threatened to obfuscate. as he prepares to leave office on January 20.
On their own initiative Tuesday, the lawyers of newly-elected President Donald Trump called it a pardon in a request to dismiss Trump’s conviction in the New York ‘hush money’ case.
Hunter Biden was originally scheduled to strike a plea deal with prosecutors last year that would have spared him jail time, but the deal fell apart after Noreika questioned unusual aspects of it.
In announced his statement After the pardon, Mr. Biden said: “From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I have kept my word, even as I watched my son was selectively and unfairly prosecuted. ”
Mr. Biden alleged that his son was “treated differently” than others in similar circumstances and that the charges were filed after “several of my political opponents in Congress incited them to attack me and oppose my election.”
The pardon applies to all crimes Hunter committed between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2024.
Hunter Biden was accused of lying on paperwork to buy a gun in October 2018 while addicted to illegal drugs. Federal law prohibits users of illegal drugs from possessing firearms.
A jury from Delaware in June found him guilty of one count each of making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm, making a false statement regarding information required to be kept by a federally licensed firearms dealer, and possession of a firearm by a person is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.
Then in September, Hunter reached a plea deal on nine counts in a federal tax evasion case in Los Angeles. Prior to the pardon, he faced a maximum prison sentence of 17 years in that case.