Photo: Xinhua
WASHINGTON, June 11 (Xinhua) -- A 12-member jury in the U.S. state of Delaware on Tuesday found Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, guilty of three federal gun charges, marking the first time a child of a sitting president has been criminally convicted.
The felony charges accuse Hunter Biden, 54, of lying about drug use when he purchased a firearm in 2018 and then illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days. He checked "no" on a federal firearm purchase form regarding his illegal drug use or substance abuse.
In closing arguments on Monday, prosecutors argued that the president's son had been using drugs for several years before purchasing the gun and that this drug use continued "for months afterward," according to the CNN report.
Biden's legal team, meanwhile, has stressed that there are no witnesses to confirm actual drug use during the month Hunter Biden bought the firearm.
Hunter Biden could potentially receive up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000, although it is unusual for first-time offenders to receive the maximum penalty.
President Biden said in a recent interview that he will not pardon his son Hunter if he is found guilty of felony gun possession.
The conviction and possible imprisonment of Hunter Biden further increases the political risks for the President in the months leading up to the November elections. Hunter Biden's broader legal problems have provided Republicans with an opportunity to portray the Biden family as corrupt, even though they have failed to prove any wrongdoing on the part of the president.
Add to that the fact that Hunter Biden will face another trial in September on tax charges in Los Angeles, California, which could reveal embarrassing new details about the president's family.
Hunter Biden's trial came just weeks before President Biden's first debate with former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, which is scheduled for June 27.
In May, a Manhattan jury convicted Trump of 34 felony counts related to falsifying records to conceal payments to a porn actress, making him the first former president in U.S. history to be criminally convicted.
Xinhua/gnews.cz-JaV_07
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