Hunter Biden upends tax trial with last-minute bid for guilty plea

(LOS ANGELES) — After hours of legal wrangling on Thursday, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to nine tax-related charges in a last-ditch bid to avoid a lengthy and potentially embarrassing trial in Los Angeles.

The president’s son initially offered a so-called “Alford plea,” in which he would agree to a guilty plea on the counts but maintain his innocence on the underlying conduct of the charges. But when prosecutors opposed that path – and U.S. Judge Mark Scarsi expressed some hesitation in granting it – attorneys for Hunter Biden said he would enter a traditional guilty plea.

“Mr. Biden is prepared to proceed today and finish this,” Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, said Thursday afternoon in court.

Wise had accused Hunter Biden of seeking special treatment with the proposed Alford plea.

Prosecutors alleged that Hunter Biden had engaged in a four-year scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on exotic cars, clothing, escorts, drugs, and luxury hotels. He had originally pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment that includes six misdemeanor charges of failure to pay, plus a felony tax evasion charge and two felony charges of filing false returns.

All back taxes and penalties were eventually paid in full by a third party, identified by ABC News as Hunter Biden confidant Kevin Morris.

Thursday’s court appearance comes three months after Hunter Biden was convicted by a Delaware jury on three felony charges related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs. His sentencing in that case is scheduled for Nov. 13.

What did prosecutors allege?

In their 56-page indictment, prosecutors alleged that Hunter Biden willfully avoided paying taxes by subverting his company’s own payroll system, that he failed to pay his taxes on time despite having the money to do so, and that he included false information in his 2018 tax returns.

“[T]he defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes,” the indictment alleged.

Prosecutors also highlighted millions of dollars that Hunter Biden received from overseas business in Ukraine, China, and Romania in exchange for “almost no work.”

Although Hunter Biden eventually paid back all his back taxes and penalties with the help of a third party, Judge Scarsi blocked defense attorneys from introducing that information to the jury.

“Evidence of late payment here is irrelevant to Mr. Biden’s state of mind at the time he allegedly committed the charged crimes,” Scarsi wrote in an order last week.

Last June, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor offenses, acknowledging that he failed to pay taxes on income he received in 2017 and 2018. The deal also allowed him to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement to avoid criminal charges related to his 2018 firearm purchase.

Had the deal worked out, Hunter Biden would have likely faced probation for the tax offenses and had his gun charge dropped if he adhered to the terms of his diversion agreement.

However, the plea deal fell apart during a contentious hearing before U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who took issue with the structure of the deal.

By September, the special counsel had unsealed an indictment in Delaware charging Hunter Biden for lying on a federal form when he purchased a firearm in 2018.

The federal indictment in Los Angeles for the tax crimes followed in December.

ABC News’ Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.