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Judge Mark Scarsi, serving as a federal district judge in California’s Central district, dismissed Hunter Biden’s legal contention that his prior plea agreement was enforceable in seeking dismissal of his tax charges.
The plea deal granted Hunter Biden immunity from potential future charges, enabling him to plead guilty to failure to pay taxes on income exceeding $1.5 million in 2017 and 2018, thus avoiding prison time and receiving probation instead. Additionally, it featured a diversion agreement providing Hunter immunity from prospective charges, including a provision to effectively expunge a potential felony gun violation from his record.
However, Hunter’s diversion agreement with Special Counsel David Weiss unraveled in 2023 under judicial scrutiny. In December, Weiss indicted the president’s son in California on nine tax violations, alleging failure to file tax returns, exaggeration of business expenses, and underreporting income.
Regarding Hunter’s plea deal enforcement argument, Judge Scarsi ruled on Monday that the diversion agreement was invalid as it disintegrated before meeting preconditions:
The court found that while the Diversion Agreement binds the involved parties, the requirement of the Probation Officer’s signature as a condition precedent was not fulfilled, rendering the immunity provision ineffective.
Hunter’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, attempted to persuade Scarsi that the Justice Department under President Joe Biden selectively targeted him, but the judge dismissed this claim, stating Hunter failed to provide “reasonable inference, let alone clear evidence, of discriminatory effect and discriminatory purpose.”
Consequently, the selective prosecution claim was dismissed by Scarsi.
Judge Scarsi ruled in January that Hunter would stand trial on June 20, 2024. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison. Overall, Hunter faces a potential 42-year federal prison sentence for the nine tax and three gun charges.
The legal case is identified as United States of America v. Robert Hunter Biden, No. 2:23-cr-00599-MCS-1 in the United States District Court Central District of California.
