A recent order by a Delaware federal judge mandates that Hunter Biden actively pursue a job, refrain from substance abuse, submit to unscheduled drug tests, and renounce firearms possession as prerequisites to avoid incarceration.
The stipulations were enforced by Judge Maryellen Noreika of the U.S. District Court amidst an unfolding investigation into President Biden's son.
Hunter Biden was indicted the previous month for two infractions linked to tax evasion amounting to over $100,000 on an income exceeding $1.5 million in 2017 and 2018.
Judge Gives It Straight To Hunter Biden
It was anticipated that Hunter Biden would admit his guilt following a pact with prosecutors, who had intended to propose two years of probation.
However, the plea bargain fell through in court when Judge Noreika expressed reservations about the agreement's conditions and her part in it.
The arrangement also covered an independent firearm charge — Hunter Biden was alleged to have held a gun as a drug consumer in 2018. He has confessed to battling substance dependency previously.
Assuming he complied with the conditions of the pact, the firearm case would be expunged from his record; failure to do so carries a ten-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors revealed that Hunter Biden remains a subject of ongoing investigation but refrained from providing further details. In the interim, he pleaded not guilty to the tax-related allegations.
The faltering of the proceedings caught many by surprise, derailing a resolution that had been intricately brokered over several weeks and entailed extensive negotiations between the Justice Department and Hunter Biden's legal counsel.
The original plea bargain aimed to absolve Hunter Biden and avert a trial.
Critics, predominantly Republicans, contend that the deal favored the Democratic president's son, while his political adversary, ex-President Donald Trump, faced undue legal scrutiny.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky, the House Oversight Committee chairman, endorsed Judge Noreika's decision to reject Hunter Biden's plea deal, reiterating that the deal deserved to be discarded.
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