Unexpectedly, the plea prevents a potentially humiliating trial that was scheduled for a few weeks before the presidential election.
Hunter Biden, 54, was scheduled to go on trial for felony counts of tax evasion and extravagant spending on narcotics, prostitution, and ostentatious goods.
In order to spare his family from “more pain, more invasions of privacy, and needless embarrassment,” he instead entered a guilty plea to all nine of the charges against him.
He might receive a sentence of up to 17 years in prison and $450,000 (£341,000) in fines, according to Judge Mark Scarsi, though a considerably lower term is probably in order.
More than a month after the election on November 5, in which his father withdrew from the race, he will be sentenced on December 16.
Hunter Biden mentioned his drug usage in a statement, stating that it was evident that the prosecution was concentrating “not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my actions during my addiction.”
I neglected to file and pay my taxes on time, just like millions of other Americans. I am accountable for that. Addiction, as I have said, is not an excuse, but it does provide an explanation for some of my shortcomings in this particular instance, he continued.