Hunter Biden Indicted: Will US Prez's Son Be Sent To Jail?

Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, was indicted on Thursday on federal firearms charges, and it comes less than two months after a plea agreement fell apart over tax and gun charges.

He is accused of lying about his drug use when he bought a firearm in October 2018, a period when he has acknowledged struggling with addiction to crack cocaine, according to the indictment filed in federal court in Delaware.

Hunter Biden has acknowledged he was a drug addict at the time. President Joe Biden's son has also been under investigation for his business dealings. The special counsel overseeing the case has indicated that charges of failure to pay taxes on time could be filed in Washington or in California, where he lives.

Punishment
The Justice Department's press release, which discloses that Hunter Biden has been charged with three felony counts, hints that the president's son may not get maximum penalties.

"If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison," the NBC News quoted DOJ as saying. "Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors."

The indictment alleges that Hunter Biden provided false information on the mandatory firearm purchase form during his acquisition of a Colt Cobra Special from a Wilmington, Delaware, gun store in October 2018. He faces two counts for making false statements, including inaccurately declaring that he was neither a drug user nor addicted to drugs, and one count for unlawfully possessing the firearm as a drug user.

Another report claims that two counts are punishable by up to 10 years in prison while the third carries up to five years in prison, upon conviction. A felony gun charge against Hunter Biden had previously been part of a plea deal that also included guilty pleas to misdemeanour tax charges, but the agreement imploded during a court hearing in July when a judge raised questions about its unusual provisions.