Los Angeles: US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden has pleaded guilty to tax evasion.
Hunter Biden, 54, pleaded guilty to nine charges related to failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes over the past decade.
Prosecutors say the money was instead spent on a life of luxury, sex workers and drug addiction.
Hunter Biden entered the plea just hours before his trial, hoping that after pleading guilty, the court could strike a deal that would keep him out of jail.
After pleading guilty, Hunter Biden could face up to 17 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines.
The trial was expected to reveal grim details of a life that the defendants and their families, including the president, have long acknowledged had gone off the rails.
According to American media, Joe Biden said in a statement that I will not subject my family to further suffering, further invasion of privacy and unnecessary embarrassment.
President Biden has the power to pardon his son but has said he won’t.
White House press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday that the president’s position has not changed.
