WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) \u2014 Hunter Biden was convicted Tuesday of all three felony charges related\u00a0to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when, prosecutors argued, the president\u2019s son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Joe Biden said in a statement issued shortly after the verdict that he would accept the outcome and \u201ccontinue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now Hunter Biden and\u00a0presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the president\u2019s chief political rival, have both been convicted by American jurors in an election year that has been\u00a0as much about the courtroom\u00a0as about campaign events and rallies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s no guarantee the judge would send him to prison. She did not set a sentencing date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said they would \u201ccontinue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available.\u201d In a written statement, Hunter Biden said he was disappointed by the outcome but grateful for the support of family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The jury\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u2014 and now the conviction \u2014 will take on the 81-year-old, who has long been concerned with his only living son\u2019s health and sustained sobriety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hunter Biden\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, however,\u00a0has continued to falsely claim his verdict was \u201crigged,\u201d\u00a0while Joe Biden has said he would accept the verdict involving his son and would not seek to pardon him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u201clove and support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s campaign called the verdict \u201cnothing more than a distraction from the real crimes of the Biden Crime Family.\u201d Trump and his allies have pressed unsubstantiated or debunked allegations that Joe Biden acted while vice president to advance his family members\u2019 foreign business interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s efforts to stop gun violence and the need to ban so-called assault weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trial played out\u00a0in the president\u2019s home state, where Hunter Biden grew up and where the family is deeply established.\u00a0Joe Biden spent 36 years\u00a0as a senator in Delaware, commuting daily to Washington, and his other son, Beau Biden, was the state attorney general before he died of cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proceedings put a spotlight on a dark time in Hunter Biden\u2019s life, including his spiraling descent after Beau\u2019s death in 2015. The trial featured deeply personal testimony from\u00a0former romantic partners\u00a0and embarrassing evidence such as text messages and photos of Hunter Biden with drug paraphernalia or partially clothed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his closing argument on Monday, prosecutor Leo Wise acknowledged the evidence was \u201cugly.\u201d But he told jurors it was also \u201cabsolutely necessary\u201d to prove Hunter was in the throes of addiction when he bought the gun and therefore lied when he checked \u201cno\u201d on the form that asked whether he was \u201can unlawful user of, or addicted to\u201d drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before the case went to the jury, the prosecutor urged jurors to pay no mind to members of the president\u2019s family sitting in the courtroom, telling them: \u201cPeople sitting in the gallery are not evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David Weiss, the prosecutor who has led the long-running investigation into the president\u2019s son, told reporters the case was about Hunter Biden\u2019s \u201cillegal choices\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo one in this country is above the law,\u201d said Weiss, the Trump-nominated U.S. attorney for Delaware, who was named special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in August. \u201cEveryone must be accountable for their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hunter Biden\u2019s lawyers had argued that he did not consider himself an \u201caddict\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n