Hunter Biden found guilty in gun criminal trial | Wilnesh News

A jury has convicted President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden on three counts in his criminal firearms trial. delaware federal court Tuesday morning.

Hunter Biden, 54, was found guilty of making false statements related to gun sales, making false statements in connection with a gun transaction and possessing a firearm while under the influence of or addicted to drugs.

The felony charges relate to his purchase of a Colt Cobra pistol from a Delaware gun store in October 2018 while he was a user and addict of crack cocaine.

Biden, an admitted cocaine and alcohol addict, is accused of lying on a federally mandated form he filled out in connection with the sale, in which he said he was not an illegal user of or addicted to narcotic drugs.

He is the first child of a sitting U.S. president to be tried in a criminal case. Biden faces another pending federal tax criminal case in Los Angeles.

The verdict comes after former President Donald Trump, who will face President Joe Biden in the November election, was found guilty in a New York state court of forgery related to a 2016 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels The business records conviction came nearly three weeks later.

Eight days after the trial began, and after only about three hours of jury deliberations, Hunter Biden looked directly at the jury and nodded slightly as the three guilty verdicts were read.

First lady Jill Biden and his aunt Valerie Biden Owens entered the courtroom after the verdict was announced.

Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, was in the room when the verdict was read.

President Biden flew to Delaware late Tuesday to visit his son, who greeted him at the Air National Guard Base in Newcastle, that state.

The verdict came after a trial that included testimony from Hunter’s ex-wife Katherine Bueller, his brother Beau Biden’s widow Halle Biden, and a third former lover of Hunter’s.

Halle Biden told jurors she used crack cocaine at Hunter’s suggestion while they were in a relationship. A pistol. She threw the gun near a grocery store, she testified.

“I am more grateful today than I am disappointed with the outcome from Melissa, my family, friends and the community for the love and support I received over the last week,” Biden said in a statement Tuesday.

“By the grace of God, recovery is possible, and I am blessed to one day experience this gift,” Biden said.

Jurors began deliberating Monday afternoon after hearing closing arguments from prosecutors and Biden attorney Abbey Lowell, as well as instructions from Judge Marilyn Noreka.

Noreka said she would set a sentencing date for Biden later.

Biden’s two felony charges carry a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, while the third charge carries a possible maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.

David Weiss, the special counsel prosecuting Biden, said at a news conference that “at the end of the day, this case is about more than just drug addiction, a disease that has plagued people including Hunter Biden.” Families across America.

“This case involves the defendant’s unlawful choices he made while in the throes of drug abuse, his choice to lie on a government form when purchasing a gun, and his subsequent choice to possess that gun,” Weiss said. “It is those choices and the relationship between guns and drugs that The combination makes his behavior dangerous.”

“No one in this country is above the law,” the prosecutor said. “Everyone must be held accountable for their actions, even this defendant. Hunter Biden should be treated no differently than any other person convicted of the same conduct.” Citizens are held more accountable. Prosecutors have been and remain committed to this principle and to the principles of federal prosecution and prosecution.

“We are naturally disappointed by today’s verdict,” Lowell, Biden’s attorney, said in a statement.

“We respect the jury process, as we have done throughout this case, and we will continue to aggressively pursue all legal challenges Hunter faces,” Lowell said.

President Biden is scheduled to speak about gun control at an event Tuesday afternoon.

The president told ABC News last week that he would not pardon his son if he was convicted in the case.

In a statement Tuesday about Hunter’s conviction, the president said: “As I said last week, I am the president, but I am also a father.”

“Jill and I love our son, and we are extremely proud of how he turned out today,” President Biden said. “Many families who have loved ones struggling with addiction understand seeing their loved ones come out of the woods and in recovery The pride of being so strong and resilient in the process.”

“As I said last week, I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers his appeal,” the president said. “Jill and I will always provide love and support to Hunter and our family. This is never change.”

Hunter Biden was separately charged in Los Angeles federal court with failing to pay taxes on more than $1.4 million in income over several years.

He is due to stand trial in the case in September, two months before his father faces Republican Trump in the election.

Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in the hush money case in Manhattan Supreme Court on July 11. He was convicted of 34 felonies and could face up to four years in prison on each count.

Biden’s gun case and the Los Angeles case were filed last summer after the collapse of a plea deal between Biden and Weiss, who is also the U.S. attorney in Delaware.

Weiss, who was appointed as special counsel by the Justice Department, filed two separate cases against Biden after Judge Noreka questioned the terms of the agreement, which could keep Biden from pleading guilty to tax crimes and entering into proceedings. Will be sentenced to jail.

The cases also come after congressional Republicans suggested Weiss, whom Trump appointed as U.S. attorney, was being too lenient in prosecuting Biden.

The Trump campaign said in a statement Tuesday about the verdict on the gun charges that “this trial does nothing but distract from the true crimes of the Biden crime family, which made tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine.” ”.

“Crooked Joe Biden’s reign over the Biden family’s criminal empire will end on November 5, and Biden will never again sell government power for personal gain,” campaign spokesperson Karoline Levitt Leavitt said.

In addition to the hush money case, Trump himself faces three other pending criminal cases.

Two of the cases, one in federal court in Washington, D.C. and the other in a Georgia state court in Atlanta, allege Trump committed crimes for trying to prevent President Joe Biden from winning the 2020 election.

The third case, in federal court in Florida, involves Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House in January 2021 and his attempts to conceal them from administration officials seeking their return.