The trial of Hunter Biden son of US President Joe Biden, charged with illegal possession of a firearm, began in federal court in Wilmington on Monday, where several witnesses have already paraded, including his former sister-in-law.
Hallie Biden, the widow of Hunter’s brother, testified Thursday that she found crack cocaine belonging to the man involved in his home in Wilmington, Delaware. She also claimed to have seen him consume the respective drug.
Federal prosecutors argued that Hunter Biden was in the midst of a severe addiction when he purchased the firearm at the center of the case. This would mean that he broke a US law that prohibits illegal drug users from possessing firearms.
In this sense, the president’s son faces the accusation of three serious crimes: lying to a federally licensed firearms dealer, making a false statement on the application by saying he did not use drugs, and illegally possessing the gun for 11 days. The accused pleaded not guilty of said charges.
In case of being pleaded guilty on all charges, he faces a penalty of up to 25 years in prison. Still, defendants typically receive shorter sentences, according to the Justice Department.
The evidence that complicates Hunter Biden in the trial
Jurors saw surveillance footage of Hallie throwing Hunter’s gun into a supermarket trash can, as well as text messages in which he said he feared for his life.
“Check yourself into a local rehab center, Hunter, this whole thing has to stop.”the sister-in-law wrote in October 2018, shortly after the purchase of the weapon was made.
In his statement, he also said that he used to clean Hunter’s truck, with whom He had a romantic relationship between the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016., looking for drugs to get rid of them. According to what he said, in one of those searches, found drugs and the gun. “I panicked and wanted to get rid of her,” the woman confessed.
In turn, she admitted that she herself was addicted to crack, as a result of her relationship with the president’s son, until she detoxified in August 2018. “It was a terrible experience that I went through and I am ashamed,” she concluded.
This situation could complicate things for his father, the current head of the White House, who is in the midst of a campaign ahead of the November presidential elections in which the president and his main rival, Republican Donald Trump, will seek re-election. Its about first criminal trial of the son of an American president.
Source: Ambito
