Hunter Biden is seeking to delay sentencing on his federal gun conviction for a few weeks as he prepares for sentencing in his federal tax case and handles another civil lawsuit.
His attorneys filed a motion Tuesday afternoon asking Delaware Judge Maryellen Noreika to delay his sentencing on three gun offenses from November 13 to a later date at the end of November or beginning of December.
“Since the Court set the sentencing hearing date, Mr. Biden and his counsel have been diligently preparing for sentencing, including working with Delaware’s Chief Probation Officer to assemble the necessary financial paperwork, arrange pre-sentencing interviews, and prepare appropriate pre sentencing submissions,” the motion reads.
Biden’s tax sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 13, and a pre-trial conference for one of Biden’s civil cases is set to take place on Nov. 12, making it difficult for Biden’s lead trial attorney to attend the sentencing hearing the following day.
“Such a postponement will accommodate both counsel and those working with counsel to prepare the necessary presentencing materials and memoranda, and to allow lead counsel to participate at the hearing,” the motion adds.
Ahead of time, Biden’s attorneys notified special counsel David Weiss and the district of Delaware’s probation office of the request. Federal prosecutor Derek Hines, one of the prosecutors in Weiss’s office, notified Biden’s attorneys that the special counsel opposes the delay. Hines and federal prosecutor Leo Wise conducted the trial for the Justice Department, winning the case against defense attorney Abbe Lowell. Biden’s attorneys anticipate that the special counsel’s office will argue the request for a delay should have been filed sooner.
Several people who have to submit paperwork to the Delaware and California courts are pre-occupied with work for the Biden administration or the 2024 presidential campaign, Hunter Biden’s attorneys noted. His attorneys are handling multiple civil lawsuits Biden filed as part of an aggressive legal approach last year, and pre-sentencing submissions for the California tax case.
In June, a Delaware jury found Hunter Biden guilty of three gun charges for lying about his drug usage on gun paperwork and possessing a firearm while being addicted to crack cocaine almost six years ago.
The conviction followed a high-stakes trial that split members of the Biden family and focused heavily on Biden’s hedonistic lifestyle last decade. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison but will likely receive a much lighter sentence as a first-time offender.
On Sept. 5, Biden plead guilty to nine federal tax charges instead of facing a bruising trial that would have placed his foreign business dealings and lavish lifestyle back into the spotlight weeks before the presidential election. The tax charges stemmed largely from his alleged failure to pay $1.4 million of taxes in a timely manner over a four year period, despite having the necessary income to do so. He entered the guilty plea on the first day of jury selection, a last-second reversal after his attorneys prepared for months to go to trial.
“I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment. For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty,” Biden said.
His father, President Joe Biden, has said he will not pardon his son or commute his sentence. Joe Biden, who is no longer running for re-election, will leave office in January, a couple weeks after the sentencing date for the tax charges.