Hunter Biden is pleading guilty to at least some of the nine tax evasion charges against him, in a stunning last-minute reversal at his criminal trial in Los Angeles. 

The change was not due to a plea deal, with prosecutor Leo Wise telling Judge Mark Scarsi on Thursday: 'this is the first we're hearing of this'.

The shock revelation was made by Hunter's attorney Abbe Lowell in front of the judge, while 120 potential jurors waited next door to be selected for his trial.  

Lowell cited legal cases and precedents suggesting that by pleading guilty, the judge would have to decide on the facts of the case rather than a jury, and the judge could only use material that has already been filed in the case.

Wise said he needed time to review the legal case Lowell cited, and the judge allowed them to take a break until 11am PDT.

The shocking U-turn is an apparent Hail Mary strategy by the defense to try to stop damaging and embarrassing evidence being presented to the jury.

Hunter's lawyers did not clarify whether he was pleading guilty to all nine charges including three felonies, or just some of them.

'We'll have to wait and see what they do,' Hunter's lead attorney Mark Geragos told DailyMail.com outside the courtroom.









Hunter Biden arrives at court with wife Melissa Cohen at his side as his tax evasion trial kicked off in Los Angeles Thursday 





In a stunning reversal ahead of jury selection, Hunter's attorneys revealed he will now be pleading guilty to some of the charges





The First Son is seen in a court sketch entering a federal courtroom for jury selection for his trial 

In court Lowell told Judge Scarsi that Hunter would be taking an 'Alford plea', meaning he would accept a guilty verdict while maintaining his innocence.

Lowell also told the judge that they had previously never accepted a plea deal, because the only offer the government made was to plead guilty to all charges.

His statement may suggest that Hunter is now deciding to plead guilty to only some of his charges. He faces a maximum of 17 years in prison if convicted of all charges. 



The president's son had arrived at federal court earlier Thursday morning with wife Melissa Cohen at his side.

He entered the courtroom with Geragos, Lowell, his friend and attorney Kevin Morris, business partner Fran Person, as well as two other attorneys on his defense team. 

A former federal prosecutor, who asked not to be named, told DailyMail.com that one possible explanation for the sudden change, was to get a quick verdict without a salacious trial, followed by a pardon or commutation from Hunter's father, President Joe Biden.

Biden has already promised that he would do neither - but that was before he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. 

As long as he is president, through January 2025, he has the power to reduce or forgive any sentence his son receives.

The maximum sentence for Hunter's tax crimes is 17 years in federal prison and a $750,000 fine.

Another attorney, Samuel Dewey, a former congressional chief counsel, told DailyMail.com he also suspected the change of plea was part of a political pact to protect damaging information about Joe Biden from being aired in public.




Hunter's attorney Abbe Lowell, arrives at the First Street US Courthouse in LA Thursday, informed the judge of the shock plea reversal as jury selection was set to begin





The president's son had switched lead counsels ahead of his trial, retaining prominent LA celebrity attorney Mark Geragos in July. He is seen arriving in federal court on Thursday morning





Law enforcement officers and reporters gathered outside the US Courthouse as Hunter arrived at the LA courthouse 

'We know the trial was going to involve detailed evidence of foreign influence peddling that likely would involve the broader Biden family and the President,' Dewey said.

WHAT IS AN ALFORD PLEA? 

Lawyers for Hunter Biden announced  on Thursday that he would be taking an 'Alford plea' in his tax evasion case, and therefore plead guilty to some of the criminal charges. 

An Alford plea is similar to pleading no-contest - or nolo contendere - in the sense that it allows the defendant to maintain his or her innocence. 

But unlike a no-contest plea, an Alford plea means the defendant is acknowledging there is enough evidence to result in a guilty verdict, without admitting to the charges. 

'It's basically accepting that he's going to face sentencing for the charges, but he will not establish the facts that would be the basis for those charges,' federal criminal legal analyst Laurie Levenson told DailyMail.com. 

'It is a lot like a nolo, but we call it Alford plea, because, frankly, it's a guilty plea. A nolo plea, it can be a little bit different, but an Alford is one where you basically say, "I'm guilty, but I'm not going to admit these facts".'

Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and professor at Loyola Law School at Loyola Marymount University, confirmed that the last-minute move by Hunter's defense is uncommon and unexpected. 

The reversal was likely determined to be the best course of action for the president's son, however, it won't have any bearing on his sentencing, she explained. 

'It's quite unusual. Courts generally don't want to allow that. They want the defendants to admit their conduct on the record, but you have cases where just to resolve them, sometimes they'll take an Alford, but it is actually very rare.

'Essentially, it will resolve the case.'

As most have also speculated, Levenson says she too believes the shock plea is a bid to avoid another embarrassing spectacle of a very public trial. 

She also pointed to last month's pre-trial hearing in which the defense was dealt a brutal blow after the judge restricted the evidence that could be presented at trial. 

'I think the prosecution was going to start to presenting evidence regarding [Hunter's] business overseas and things that are not directly related to the charges. So, I think they're trying to contain the allegations and the publicity,' Levenson said. 

'He'll face the same consequences in terms of sentencing. I just don't think that they wanted to go through the spectacle of a trial.'    

Levenson, however, admitted that the timing of the plea reversal is not entirely unusual. 

'I think that there have been a lot of moving pieces to this case, and I think things changed once Joe Biden dropped out of the race. 

'I also think that sometimes it takes going up to the day of trial for a defendant to realize that realistically, he's not going to win that case, so resolving it with the least amount of spectacle might be best way to go.' 

If the judge accepts the plea, she explained, the case will then move forward with sentencing and there will be a pre-sentencing report, and both sides will file sentencing memoranda.



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The attorney was referring to prosecutors' evidence that Hunter earned $1million from allegedly lobbying US State Department officials on behalf of a Romanian real estate magnate charged with bribery - a scandal first revealed by DailyMail.com two years ago.

'A plausible theory for why this odd turn happened now, is that Hunter has run out the clock and will not be required to report to prison until after November 4, when he will be pardoned without massive political damage to the Democratic nominee in the 2024 General Election,' Dewey said.

'So in effect this might be a 'fall' directed by others.'

Lowell seemed to think the case could be wrapped up quickly with this new turn, telling the judge: 'I think this can be resolved today… It's not like it's a very complicated issue.'

'I will provide both the court and counsel for the government every case that addresses this,' he added.

Wise told Judge Scarsi: 'We would appreciate an opportunity to look at the law Mr. Lowell is now mentioning'.

The government attorneys are now spending the next couple of hours researching and coming up with a plan to respond to the shocking reversal by the defense, before the hearing is convened again at 11am.

Hunter is due to be sentenced in Delaware for his gun crimes on November 13, eight days after the presidential election.

If Hunter pleads guilty to all counts in his tax crimes case, his sentencing could be scheduled by the California federal judge before the end of the year.

It would also mean Hunter would avoid a trial that was set to air his years of drug-fueled debauchery and alleged political corruption.

It is ultimately up to Judge Scarsi to decide whether he will accept Hunter's guilty plea.

Prosecutors indicated before recess that they may be opposed to Hunter's plea, preferring to go ahead with the trial.

But their position may change after researching past legal cases and conferring with their boss, Special Counsel David Weiss for the next hour, until they go back into the trial hearing at 11am Pacific Time.

Hunters four-strong legal team, led by Geragos and Lowell, re-entered the courtroom shortly after 10am.

Hunter is sitting inside with his wife Melissa, as Secret Service agents guard the door.

The First Son - who is facing his second criminal trial this year - is accused of nine crimes including three felony counts and six misdemeanors for failing to pay $1.4million in taxes and lying on his IRS returns. 

Chauffeured to the court from his Malibu home by his Secret Service escort in a convoy of blacked-out SUVs, he headed into the courthouse dressed in a navy blue suit and tie, clasping his wife's hand. 

Among the sordid details of the case that was due to be presented is evidence that Hunter spent tens of thousands of dollars on prostitutes, drugs, hotel rooms for days-long benders, porn site subscriptions and a Lamborghini rental - then deducted them on his tax return as business expenses.

He comes to the Los Angeles federal court from a humiliating defeat in Delaware in June, where a jury found him guilty of lying about his crack addiction to buy a gun in 2018.

Hunter, 54, faces the same two federal prosecutors, Wise and Derek Hines, who trounced his hotshot Washington, DC attorney Lowell in the previous criminal trial.

He is desperately hoping for a better result in this case, in which a conviction could fetch him a much heftier prison sentence of up to 17 years and $750,000 in fines.




The case marks the second high-profile criminal trial this year for Hunter, who faces multiple charges on evading $1.4million in taxes





He was flanked by supportive wife Melissa Cohen, who was also seen at her husband's side throughout his gun trial earlier this year 





The president's scandal-hit son is set to stand his second criminal trial this year - the culmination of his legal trouble that saw the sordid details of his life thrust into the spotlight

He has swapped out Lowell as led counsel for celebrity LA lawyer Geragos - known for representing Chris Brown, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Bill Clinton's brother Roger, Michael Jackson, Colin Kaepernick, Winona Ryder and more recently Jasveen Sangha, the so-called 'Ketamine Queen' who is facing charges in connection to the death of Matthew Perry. 

Both criminal cases were brought by Special Counsel David Weiss, after a five-year probe into Hunter's debauched life and shady overseas business dealings.



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Geragos says the prosecution plans to use salacious details to 'slime' the First Son in front of the jury.

Hunter's team already sustained a slew of defeats in pre-trial hearings that potentially kneecapped the plans for his defense.

Geragos wanted psychological experts to testify to convince the jury Hunter's drug addiction led to his debauched behavior and alleged tax evasion, and that the childhood trauma of his mother and sister dying in a car crash in 1972 and his brother's death from brain cancer in 2015 were to blame.

But Judge Scarsi was having none of it, ruling that Hunter's expert, Joshua Lee, would not be allowed to testify.

In another blow to the defense, Scarsi ruled that the jury will not be told that Hunter's multi-million-dollar tax bill he is charged with failing to pay, was later paid off by Morris, his wealthy Hollywood attorney.

In a pre-trial hearing last month, the judge warned that if lawyers talked in front of the jury about topics he had outlawed, they could be fined 'six figures'.




Criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos represented singer Chris Brown when he was charged with assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna. More recently he has been taken on by Jasveen Sangha, the so-called 'Ketamine Queen' who is facing charges in connection to the death of Matthew Perry





During a pre-trial hearing last month, the defense was dealt a blow in the case after Judge Scarsi ruled that the jury will not be told that Hunter's multi-million-dollar tax bill he is charged with failing to pay, was later paid off by his wealthy Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris 











Hunter's legal troubles come after compromising photos, videos, texts, and emails of the president's son from his abandoned laptop were published online 

The prosecution plan to wheel out similar devastating evidence they used in the Delaware gun crime trial, including recordings of Hunter's own voice reading potentially incriminating excerpts from the audiobook version of his memoir, Beautiful Things, confessing to his drug binges.

A pool of 100 jurors were to be quizzed on their attitudes about tax laws, their views on people who fail to pay, their family history of drug addiction, and their political activities.

The potential jurors were drawn from LA and six neighboring counties. 

In the 2020 presidential election, voters there sided with Hunter's father over Donald Trump, 63% to 35%.

Judge Scarsi said he would select 12 jurors and four backup 'alternates'.

Jury selection is expected to continue through Thursday and Friday if a panel i needed. Attorneys were set to kick off the trial with opening statements on Monday.

The trial wass estimated by both sides to last eight days.

Witnesses were set to include Hunter's ex wife Kathleen; his brother's widow who became Hunter's lover, Hallie Biden; and Lunden Roberts, whom he hired as an assistant, impregnated, then cut her from his company's medical insurance.

Hunter is due to be sentenced in Delaware for his gun crimes on November 13, eight days after the presidential election.


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