WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) 鈥� Hunter Biden was convicted Tuesday of all three felony charges related , prosecutors argued, the president鈥檚 son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.
Hunter Biden, 54, stared straight ahead and showed little emotion as the verdict was read after jury deliberations that lasted only three hours over two days in Wilmington, Delaware. He hugged his attorneys, smiled wanly and kissed his wife, Melissa, before leaving the courtroom with her.
President Joe Biden said in a statement issued shortly after the verdict that he would accept the outcome and "continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.鈥�
Now Hunter Biden and , the president鈥檚 chief political rival, have both been convicted by American jurors in an election year that has been as about campaign events and rallies.
Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, though as a first-time offender he would not get anywhere near the maximum, and there's no guarantee the judge would send him to prison. She did not set a sentencing date.
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said they would 鈥渃ontinue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available.鈥� In a written statement, Hunter Biden said he was disappointed by the outcome but grateful for the support of family and friends.
The jury's decision was read swiftly after the announcement that it reached a verdict. First lady Jill Biden sat through nearly every day of the trial but did not make it into the courtroom in time to hear the verdict. Hunter Biden walked out of the courthouse holding hands with the first lady and his wife before they got into waiting SUVs and drove off.
Joe Biden steered clear of the federal courtroom where his son was tried and said little about the case, wary of appearing to interfere in a criminal matter brought by his own Justice Department. But allies of the Democrat have worried about the toll that the trial 鈥� and now the conviction 鈥� will take on the 81-year-old, who has long been concerned with his only living son鈥檚 health and sustained sobriety.
Hunter Biden's conviction came just weeks after Trump was found guilty of 34 felony charges related to a hush money payment to a porn actor in the 2016 campaign. The cases are in no way the same, and Hunter Biden is a private citizen who is not running for office. But they have both argued they were victimized by the politics of the moment.
Trump, however, while Joe Biden has said he would accept the verdict involving his son and would not seek to pardon him.
In his statement Tuesday, the president said he and the first lady are proud of their son, who says he has been sober since 2019, and will always be there for him with 鈥渓ove and support.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 campaign called the verdict 鈥渘othing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family.鈥� Trump and his allies have pressed unsubstantiated or debunked allegations that Joe Biden acted while vice president to advance his family members鈥� foreign business interests.
The verdict came down as the president prepared to give a speech at a conference hosted by the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund in Washington. He did not mention his son as he spoke about his administration鈥檚 efforts to stop gun violence and the need to ban so-called assault weapons.
Hours after the conviction, President Biden hugged his son after landing in Wilmington to spend the night with family before leaving Wednesday for the Group of Seven leaders conference in Italy. Hunter Biden, his wife and their child greeted the president on the tarmac, and the president lingered to visit with them for several minutes.
Jurors found Hunter Biden guilty of lying to a federally licensed gun dealer, making a false claim on the application by saying he was not a drug user and illegally having the gun for 11 days.
The trial played out , where Hunter Biden grew up and where the family is deeply established. as a senator in Delaware, commuting daily to Washington, and his other son, Beau Biden, was the state attorney general before he died of cancer.
The proceedings put a spotlight on a dark time in Hunter Biden's life, including his spiraling descent after Beau's death in 2015. The trial featured deeply personal testimony from and embarrassing evidence such as text messages and photos of Hunter Biden with drug paraphernalia or partially clothed.
In his closing argument on Monday, prosecutor Leo Wise acknowledged the evidence was 鈥渦gly." But he told jurors it was also 鈥渁bsolutely necessary" to prove Hunter was in the throes of addiction when he bought the gun and therefore lied when he checked 鈥渘o鈥� on the form that asked whether he was 鈥渁n unlawful user of, or addicted to鈥� drugs.
Before the case went to the jury, the prosecutor urged jurors to pay no mind to members of the president鈥檚 family sitting in the courtroom, telling them: 鈥淧eople sitting in the gallery are not evidence.鈥�
David Weiss, the prosecutor who has led the long-running investigation into the president's son, told reporters the case was about Hunter Biden's "illegal choices" and 鈥渄angerous鈥� conduct.
鈥淣o one in this country is above the law,鈥� said Weiss, the Trump-nominated U.S. attorney for Delaware, who was named special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in August. 鈥淓veryone must be accountable for their actions.鈥�
Hunter Biden鈥檚 lawyers had argued that he did not consider himself an 鈥渁ddict鈥� when he bought the gun. They sought to show he was trying to turn his life around at the time, having completed a rehabilitation program at the end of August 2018.
Hunter Biden鈥檚 legal troubles aren鈥檛 over. He faces a trial in September in California on , and congressional Republicans have signaled they will keep going after him in their stalled impeachment effort into the president. The president has not been accused or charged with any wrongdoing by prosecutors investigating his son.
Just last year, it appeared that Hunter Biden would avoid the spectacle of a trial so close to the election. Under a deal with prosecutors, he was supposed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and avoid prosecution in the gun case if he stayed out of trouble for two years.
But the deal fell apart after Noreika, who was nominated by Trump, questioned unusual aspects of the proposed agreement, and the lawyers could not resolve the matter.
Hunter Biden has said he was charged because the Justice Department bowed to pressure from Republicans who argued the Democratic president鈥檚 son was getting special treatment.
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Richer and Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mike Catalini and Aamer Madhani in Wilmington contributed to this report.
Randall Chase, Claudia Lauer, Michael Kunzelman, Colleen Long And Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
