- Wednesday, October 16, 2024
The recent tax charges brought against Hunter Biden have brought his legal woes to a new level, raising the possibility that he may serve time in prison. The investigation into his finances has been ongoing for years, and these charges significantly ramp up the stakes.
According to data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), nearly 90% of tax cases referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution end in a conviction or guilty plea. In about two-thirds of those cases, prison time is served, usually averaging around 14 months.
Special Prosecutor David Weiss has brought a case against the 53-year-old Biden, accusing him of tax evasion and tax fraud. The charges claim that he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes owed from 2016 to 2020. The allegations state that Biden took deliberate steps to hide income from the IRS and neglected to pay his obligations, despite having the funds available. Instead, the money was reportedly spent on drugs, women, and maintaining a lavish lifestyle.
If convicted on all charges, Biden could face a maximum prison sentence of 17 years, according to federal prosecutors.
Earlier this year, Biden had reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax evasion charges. Additionally, he had entered into a diversion agreement for a separate charge related to lying on a federal gun license application. This agreement would have likely resulted in no jail time for Biden since he had already settled his tax bill in 2021.
However, complications arose when Republicans on Capitol Hill challenged the agreement, and the judge overseeing the case expressed concerns about its validity. Consequently, in September, Weiss filed criminal gun charges against Biden in Delaware.
In response to the new charges, Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, issued a statement claiming that prosecutors succumbed to Republican pressure and filed "unprecedented and unconstitutional gun charges" to undermine the initial non-prosecution resolution. Lowell also criticized the timing of the additional charges, highlighting the absence of new evidence after five years of investigation and two years since Hunter paid his taxes in full.
Despite the defenses put forth by Biden's legal team, these nine new charges have undoubtedly compounded his legal predicament, casting doubts on his chances of avoiding imprisonment. The path ahead appears increasingly treacherous for Hunter Biden as he navigates through the complex web of legal proceedings.
Hunter Biden Faces Serious Tax Charges
According to a statement released by Hunter Biden's defense team, if his last name wasn't Biden, the charges against him in Delaware and California would never have been brought. Experts in the field of criminal law, like Kevin J. O'Brien, agree that the tax charges are significant due to the large sum of money involved and suggest that jail time could be a possibility. However, O'Brien also questions the sudden change in direction by prosecutors, who initially only gave Biden two misdemeanor charges after a four-year investigation, only to come back five months later with more serious charges. It is expected that motions to dismiss the case will be filed.
In the past fiscal year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) pursued criminal charges against 1,838 defendants for allegedly evading over $37 billion in taxes they owed. Out of these cases, 1,508 resulted in convictions. Notably, the average age of those charged with tax fraud is 52, and approximately 80% of them have no prior criminal record, as per IRS data.
In the previous year, the IRS initiated 2,550 criminal tax evasion and tax fraud cases, leading to taxes worth $31 billion going unpaid. Around 91% of these cases concluded with convictions.
If convicted, Hunter Biden would join the list of high-profile individuals who have faced jail time for tax offenses. Actor Wesley Snipes served three years in prison for failing to pay $7 million in taxes, claiming a moral objection. Singer Lauryn Hill was incarcerated for three months for not filing her returns on $1.8 million in earnings. Additionally, "Jersey Shore" star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino was imprisoned for eight months due to falsifying his tax returns to hide nearly $9 million in earnings.
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