Hunter Biden pleads guilty to federal tax charges

The US president’s son was warned he faces serious jail time after the 11th hour plea before a trial was set to begin.

US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter has pleaded guilty to nine tax charges in a Los Angeles court, leaving him facing the prospect of prison time.

Hunter Biden, 54, admitted on Thursday US time to failing to pay $1.4 million (AU$2.07 million) in taxes over the past decade, money prosecutors said he splurged instead on luxury living, sex workers and a drug habit.

Hunter Biden after guilty pleas on Thursday, US time. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

Biden was told he could face up to 15 years in prison. Picture: Ringo Chiu/AFP

The pleas came on the day jury selection for a trial had been due to start, and hours after Biden had offered to plead guilty in the hope of striking a deal that might keep him out of prison.

But no deal appeared to have materialised and Biden made the pleas in open court, with US District Judge Mark Scarsi cautioning him that he could face a lengthy prison sentence, as well as a fine of up to $1 million.

Judge Scarsi set sentencing for December 16.

In court Biden agreed he was not promised anything to plead guilty, and his lawyer Abbe Lowell confirmed “there has not been an agreement” between the parties.

Hunter Biden leaves court with his wife Melissa Cohen. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

Prosecutors read the full 56-page indictment during the plea proceeding, which took nearly 90 minutes, before Judge Scarsi asked Biden: “Do you agree that you committed every element of every crime?”

“Yes,” Biden responded.

A trial had been expected to re-hash sordid details of a life that of Biden and his family -including the president – have long acknowledged had gone off the rails.

Biden has already spent a chunk of 2024 in court, having been convicted in Delaware of lying about his drug use when he bought a gun – which is a felony.

He has yet to be sentenced for that crime, and could face up to 25 years in jail.

The president’s son said he had not been promised leniency for pleading guilty. Picture: Robyn Beck/AFP

Biden’s defence team has argued that the non-payment of taxes was an oversight in a life wrought chaotic by a spiralling drug addiction and the trauma of losing his older brother, Beau, to a brain tumour in 2015.

CNN reports that even prosecutors were surprised at Biden’s plea on Thursday, as it is rare for high-profile people to plead guilty without a deal.

“We were as shocked as everyone else in the courtroom this morning,” prosecutor Leo Wise said.

Biden has paid back the taxes, as well as penalties levied by authorities, and had previously reached a plea deal that would have kept him out of jail.

That agreement fell apart at the last minute, and Biden is understood to have been trying to reach another ever since.

US President Joe Biden and his son Hunter at the Democratic National Convention. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

Biden’s lawyers had previously argued he was the victim of political machinations due to his father’s presidency.

“They want to slime him because that is the whole purpose,” Biden’s lawyer Mark Geragos reportedly said during an August hearing.

Biden has for years been a foil for his father’s political opponents, who have sought to smear the family as a group of criminals who have gained wealth and power because of Joe Biden’s career.

– More to come.