What is Hunter Biden, son of the US president, accused of, and what sentence could he receive in the historic trial against him?

The Spanish newspaper El País highlights that a note at the bottom of the form asked him to certify that his answers were “true, correct and complete,” and warned him that he was prohibited from purchasing a weapon if he answered affirmatively to said question and that making a false statement in this regard was a crime.

Hunter Biden purchased the revolver and had it for 11 days. The gun then turned up in a trash can at a Greenville supermarket, about a 10-minute drive from the gun store.

According to his memoirs, at the time of purchasing the gun he was mired in a crack addiction.
​
(You can read: On video: they capture the moment when three friends hug each other before being swept away by the floods in Italy)

Hunter Biden is charged with three crimes: false statement when purchasing a firearm, false statement in documents to be kept on file by the gun seller and illegal possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors maintain that Hunter Biden was a drug user and addict when he purchased the revolver.
​
​He has pleaded not guilty and has said he is being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department because Republicans condemned a defunct plea deal on the grounds that it was special treatment for the Democratic president’s son.

At this point, it is worth explaining that Hunter Biden stood before federal court ready to plead guilty to minor tax crimes. But the agreement between him and prosecutors, which was going to save him a trial and avoid spending time in prison (they were going to give him two years of probation), fell apart. The agreement had been announced in June last year.
​
To obtain a conviction on the two charges related to the purchase of the revolver, Prosecutors must convince jury that Hunter Biden knowingly made a false statement on his gun purchase form and that the lie was relevant for the operation to be closed. For the weapons possession charge, they must prove that you knew he was an illegal user of a controlled substance or that he was a drug addict and that he possessed a firearm.

The case is expected to be over in a couple of weeks.
​
(Keep reading: Mexico: why did the market react badly to Claudia Sheinbaum’s triumph and what can be expected?)

The court has said that Hunter Biden could receive up to 10 years in prison for the first offense of making a false statement when purchasing a firearm. Five years in prison for false declaration in the documents to be kept in the files of the seller of the weapon, and another 10 years for illegal possession of a firearm. The fines that would be imposed could reach up to $250,000 for each of the crimes. He also may be sentenced to up to three years of probation.

In total, the maximum penalty would be 25 years in prison. However, the United States press maintains that sentences for those who are first offenders are not close to the maximum. Even Hunter Biden might not go to prison.

Prosecutors use excerpts from Hunter Biden’s memoir, Beautiful Things, in their indictment. in which he acknowledges that he was addicted to drugs for four years until March 2019. Prosecutors also have text messages from the defendant from that time.

The Prosecutor’s Office wants to call as witnesses Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, and the widow of his older brother Beau Biden, Hallie Biden, with whom he later had a relationship, to testify about his addiction.

In his memoirs, Hunter Biden described being consumed by drugs and alcohol after his brother Beau died in 2015. at 46 years old from brain cancer. The brothers were very close, as they survived a car accident when they were young, in which their mother and little sister died, reports the AP agency.
​
​(Also: USA: the 37 countries that former President Donald Trump could not enter and the changes in his life now that he was convicted)

Hunter Biden has said he has been sober since 2019. But prosecutors intend to use his memoir to argue that he knew he was addicted to drugs. when he denied it on the form that every person must fill out when purchasing a gun. They plan to show jurors text messages, videos and photos of Hunter Biden smoking crack cocaine, as well as details about cocaine residue that authorities say were found in the bag he used to hold his gun.

“I am a liar, a thief, an accuser and a user, I am delusional and an addict, different and above all the other addicts you know, and I have ruined every relationship I have ever held dear,” Hunter Biden wrote in a message text weeks after purchasing the firearm, according to prosecutors.

As for the fate of the gun, Hallie Biden was the one who found it in Hunter Biden’s truck and threw it in the trash at a Greenville supermarket. She was found by a recycler, who handed her over to the police.

According to AP, The defense has suggested that it will attack the credibility of the weapons store employees, as it assures that there were changes in the purchase form after the sale. Prosecutors maintain there were minor additions unrelated to the portions Hunter Biden completed.

Additionally, his lawyers have suggested they can argue that Hunter Biden did not see himself as an addict when prosecutors say he checked “no” to the question on the form.

“The terms ‘user’ or ‘addict’ are not defined on the form and were not explained to you,” the defense wrote in a recent document. “Someone, like Mr. Biden, who had just completed an 11-day rehab program and lived with a sober partner after that, could surely believe that he was not a present-tense user or addict.”

Hunter Biden is scheduled to begin trial in September in California in a case in which he is accused of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes over four years.

Biden’s son regularized the pending payments and the case was to be closed in the aforementioned agreement with prosecutors, which ultimately failed.

President Biden, for his part, said Monday that he and the first lady were “very proud” of Hunter.

“As president, I do not and will not comment on pending federal cases, but as a father, I have boundless love for my son, trust in him, and respect for his strength,” Biden said in a statement.

He added that his son’s strength to leave his problems behind gives encouragement to the family. “Hunter’s resilience in the face of adversity and the strength he has brought to his recovery inspires us. “Many families have loved ones who have overcome addiction a
nd know what we mean,” Biden said.