Federal prosecutors outline possible prison sentence in Hunter Biden gun case

As first son Hunter Biden's legal troubles continue to mount, prosecutors in his federal firearms case have revealed that he could face between 15 and 21 months in prison if convicted, as the Washington Times explains.

The sentencing range was articulated in recent filings submitted in the case by special counsel David Weiss and senior assistant special counsel Derek Hines.

Prosecutors weigh in

The prosecution team in Hunter Biden's gun case contended in the aforementioned documents that the first son's situation is notably worse than others facing similar charges of lying in connection with gun background checks and of possessing a gun while designated a prohibited person.

Part of the exacerbation in circumstances comes from the fact that Biden was an acknowledged user or cocaine, a drug that presents much greater danger than marijuana, which tends to form the basis of many cases that fall under the same charges.

Not only did Biden boast of his cocaine use in a recent memoir, his recollections coincided in time with the gun purchase that lies at the heart of his current legal trouble.

In addition, the gun pouch used by Biden to contain the firearm at issue contained traces of a powdery substance ultimately confirmed to have been cocaine, the prosecutors said.

As such, Weiss and Hines noted, the prosecution “preliminarily estimates that the defendant's post-trial guidelines as determined under the United States Sentencing Guidelines are 15-21 months' imprisonment.”

Biden balks

Hunter Biden, for his part, contend that the current charges are the result of political interference on the part of Republicans, a fact they say is evidenced by a prior plea deal offered by Weiss, which would have settled the firearm charges without prison time.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell declared, “This is perhaps the clearest case of prosecutors making prosecutorial decisions for political reasons, selectively and vindictively prosecuting Mr. Biden based on his familial and political affiliation with his father, the president of the United States.”

Lowell added his belief that no “similarly situated person” would have faced charges, stating that his client simply purchased “a small firearm that he owned for a mere 11 days, never loaded and never fired.”

Weiss, Hines respond

That argument, the prosecutors contend, has no merit, and they wrote, “The charges in this case are not trumped up or because of former President Trump – they are instead a result of the defendant's own choices and were brought in spite of, not because of, any outside noise made by politicians.”

Whether their efforts will ultimately yield what many believe is long overdue -- and still insufficient -- accountability for the son of President Joe Biden, only time will tell.