The judge has ruled that the 'sweetheart' plea agreement struck by Hunter Biden cannot be enforced, according to a report by Breitbart News.
Hunter Biden's legal argument that his previous plea bargain was enforceable in order to get his tax charges thrown out of court was denied by Judge Mark Scarsi, who is a federal district judge in the Central District of California.
An immunity from any potential future charges was granted to Hunter Biden as a result of the plea agreement.
To be more specific, it allowed Hunter to enter a guilty plea for failing to pay taxes on income that exceeded $1.5 million in 2017 and 2018, giving him the opportunity to receive probation rather than incarceration throughout his sentence.
Furthermore, it featured a diversion agreement that provided Hunter with immunity from any prospective future prosecutions.
This immunity included a provision that effectively erased any potential felony firearms violation from his record.
A judicial investigation in 2023 resulted in the dissolution of the diversion arrangement that Hunter had with Special Counsel David Weiss. This was likely a setback to the now-first son.
During the month of December, Weiss obtained a nine-count indictment against the son of the president in the state of California.
These charges included neglecting to file tax forms, exaggerating his business expenses, and underestimating his income.
In response to Hunter's claim that the plea deal should be enforced, Judge Scarsi decided on Monday that the diversion agreement was invalid since it was not able to be successfully implemented before the preconditions were satisfied:
Having found that the Diversion Agreement is a contract that binds the parties but that the parties made the Probation Officer’s signature a condition precedent to its performance, the Court turns to Defendant’s theory of immunity: that the United States’ obligation to refrain from prosecuting Defendant under section II(15) of the Diversion Agreement is currently in force. It is not.
"The immunity provision is not one exempted from the term of the contract under the survival clause," the ruling continued.
Hunter Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, attempted to convince the judge that the Justice Department under President Joe Biden targeted the first son selectively. However, the judge said Hunter failed “to present a reasonable inference, let alone clear evidence, of discriminatory effect and discriminatory purpose.”
“Accordingly, the selective prosecution claim fails,” Scarsi ruled.
Hunter is scheduled to appear in court on June 20, 2024, as determined by the judge in January. Hunter may be subject to a maximum of seventeen years in prison upon conviction. The son of the president faces a combined 42 years in federal incarceration on account of the three firearm and nine tax charges.
