Federal jury convicts Hunter Biden of gun crime: NPR

ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:

A federal jury in Delaware found Hunter Biden guilty of gun crimes. The guilty verdict against President Biden’s son was returned by the Wilmington jury after 3 hours of deliberations. And the president has publicly stated that he will not pardon his son. We now join NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas, who was in the courtroom throughout the week-long trial and is now outside the federal courthouse. Hello, Ryan.

RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Hello.

SCHMITZ: So how did this verdict unfold?

LUCAS: Well, the jury only started deliberating yesterday afternoon, spent about an hour before breaking for the day, then came back, and after 2 hours of deliberations this morning, they arrived and said they had a verdict. The courtroom deputy read the verdict in the courtroom, guilty on all three counts, as you said: two counts of making false statements about his drug use drugs when he purchased the gun, then one count of illegal possession of a firearm by drug. user or addict. Hunter showed no reaction when the verdict was read. Then he hugged his lawyers. And then before leaving the courtroom with his wife, he gave her a kiss and a hug. And then they left.

SCHMITZ: And please remind us, Ryan, how did we get to this point?

LUCAS: This case revolves around a Colt revolver that Hunter purchased in 2018. Prosecutors showed the jury text messages and photographs. The jury heard testimony about Hunter’s drug use during the four-year period from 2015 to 2019. In closing arguments, prosecutors said the evidence was overwhelming that Hunter Biden was addicted to crack cocaine, that he was a crack user. , including at the time he purchased and possessed this weapon. Hunter’s attorney, Abby Lowell, did her best to try to cast doubt on the government’s evidence. But ultimately, as the guilty verdict on all three counts shows, the jury simply did not find his arguments convincing.

SCHMITZ: That’s not the only legal challenge Hunter Biden faces. He’s also facing federal charges in California, right?

LUCAS: That’s true. This is another case brought by Justice Department Special Counsel David Weiss, who also brought this case here in Delaware. In the California tax case, Hunter faces nine charges in total, including willful failure to pay taxes, tax evasion and filing fraudulent tax returns. Finally, he paid, with penalties and interest, his back taxes. And his lawyers said that in this case, you know, he suffered from the same addiction issues that we saw as a central problem here in the gun case. So even though he’s done with one federal trial this year, as you said, he has another one ahead of him, and that’s currently scheduled for September.

SCHMITZ: In the 30 seconds we have left, Ryan, what happens to Hunter Biden now?

LUCAS: Well, he… the judge didn’t set a date today. She said, we’ll come back to that. It’s normally around 120 days. But we’ll have to wait until the sentencing date and then see what the judge’s decision is on Hunter’s sentence.

SCHMITZ: This is NPR’s Ryan Lucas in Wilmington, Del. Ryan, thank you very much.

LUCAS: Thanks, Rob.

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