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AP Photo/Matt Slocum

Hunter Biden pled guilty in a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday afternoon to all of the charges brought against him in a federal indictment related to failure to pay income taxes and tax evasion from 2016 to 2019. In accepting the plea, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Scarsi told Biden that he faces a maximum punishment of 17 years in prison and a fine of between $500,000 and $1 million. (Scarsi initially said 15 years but later corrected himself.)

Sentencing will be held at a later date, after court officials, prosecutors, and the defense team present their recommendations to the court.

UPDATED 11:50 AM PDT:

When proceedings reconvened in Hunter Biden’s federal tax fraud trial at 11 AM Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Leo Wise told District Court Judge Mark Scarsi that the government does not have a plea deal with Biden, and that they argue the court should not accept an Alford plea from him.

Wise argued:

Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty. He is not entitled to plead guilty on special terms…. We have not negotiated this outcome with the defense. We were as shocked as everyone in the courtroom when they made that announcement.

We did speak briefly with defense counsel during the break and it is not clear to us what they are trying to do.

Wise informed the court that the government “[W]ill not under any circumstances agree to an Alford plea. We think it’s an injustice.” But, he said, “If we go forward today, we will read the entire indictment into the record as being the evidence that we would prove at trial.”

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said Biden would not agree to the truth of every single fact asserted in the indictment/proffer, but would tell the court that he believes the government would present evidence sufficient for a jury to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Lowell confirmed that Biden does not intend to admit guilt.

There was some argument as to whether Scarsi was obligated to accept an Alford plea from Biden or had discretion. Eventually Lowell agreed with Scarsi that the court has a “sliver” of discretion, and Scarsi expressed concern about issues of public interest related to transparency that have to be satisfied. By the government giving a detailed proffer of evidence Scarsi believed the public interest issue could be satisfied, and that proffer would also give him the factual basis he needs to accept the plea.

Approximately 120 potential jurors reported to the courthouse Thursday; they have been sequestered in the jury room while this process plays out. Scarsi proposed that the court recess until 9 AM Friday to allow the parties to brief their positions on whether the court had to accept an Alford plea and what factors should be taken into consideration, but Lowell asked for a 30-minute recess to speak with Biden about how he would like to proceed.

The proceedings will resume at 12:05 PM.

ORIGINAL STORY

As jury selection was beginning in Hunter Biden’s federal tax evasion trial in downtown Los Angeles Thursday, Hunter’s defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, announced in court that Hunter intends to change his plea from not guilty to guilty.

The announcement of Hunter’s change of plans came as a surprise. Court is in recess until 11 AM Pacific, at which time Hunter is expected to officially change his plea.