Hunter Biden found guilty of lying about drug use to illegally buy gun

Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, was convicted Tuesday of lying about his drug use to illegally purchase a gun, making him the first child of a sitting US president to be convicted of a crime.

Twelve jurors in federal court in Wilmington, Del., found him guilty of all three counts after deliberating for several hours.

Biden, 54, nodded slightly after the verdict was read but otherwise showed little reaction. He then patted his lawyer, Father Lowell, on the back and hugged another member of his legal team.

Prosecutors had argued that Biden was in the grip of an addiction when he purchased a gun in 2018, and that he broke the law by lying about it when he filled out a mandatory purchase form. Weapon for a Colt Cobra revolver.

Defense attorneys said he was not using drugs at the time and did not consider himself an addict.

Jurors had to be unanimous on every count against Biden.

The sentence will be pronounced no later than October

The judge did not set a date for sentencing, but added that the time limit is typically 120 days. That would put him no more than a month before the November 5 U.S. presidential election.

Sentencing guidelines for gun-related charges are 15 to 21 months, but legal experts say defendants in similar cases often receive shorter sentences and are less likely to be incarcerated if they are not. they respect the conditions of their provisional release.

Hunter Biden and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, arrive Tuesday for the reading of the verdict in his trial on criminal gun charges in Wilmington. (Hannah Beier/Reuters)

The verdict comes less than two weeks after the criminal conviction of former US President Donald Trump, now the first former US president to be convicted of a crime and Republican challenger to Joe Biden in the November 5 election.

Trump, who was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal, accuses Democrats of pursuing that case and three other criminal charges to prevent him from regaining power in his rematch with Joe Biden.

Democrats have cited cases including that of Hunter Biden as proof that Joe Biden is not using the justice system for political or personal gain, with the current president saying last week that he would not pardon his son s he was condemned.