Thus, the goal is not going to trial, which Biden wanted to avoid. However, he is giving up all possibilities of a settlement with the prosecutors and he risks up to 15 years in prison and fines of one million dollars.
The trial concerns suspected tax offenses of 1.4 million dollars between 2016-2019.
Hunter Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell said earlier on Thursday that the evidence against the President's son is overwhelming, and that Biden would plead guilty but claim that he did not commit the crime intentionally.
The prosecutor in the case did not accept this.
He does not have the right to plead guilty on grounds that only apply to him, said prosecutor Leo Wise.
Most indications thus pointed to a trial being initiated, with a jury selection only hours away when the new message came. Now, there will be no trial.
In a statement, Hunter Biden says that he chose to plead guilty to spare his family another trial.
"I will not expose my family to more pain, more intrusions into their private lives, and unnecessary embarrassment. I have put them through enough over the years, but I can spare them this, and therefore I have decided to plead guilty", he writes in the statement.
The sentence will be announced on December 16.
Hunter Biden has previously been convicted of illegal possession of a firearm for eleven days; he lied when applying for a license for the weapon – which can give him a prison sentence. Biden had addiction problems when the crimes were committed.
