--- title: Hunter Biden Found Guilty in Federal Gun Trial description: A federal jury found Hunter Biden guilty for lying about his drug use when buying a gun in 2018. canonical: https://time.com/6987280/hunter-biden-guilty-gun-trial/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-06-11T16:02:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:48.239Z article:section: Politics og:title: Hunter Biden Found Guilty in Federal Gun Trial og:description: For the first time, a sitting President’s son has been convicted of a felony in a criminal trial. og:url: https://time.com/6987280/hunter-biden-guilty-gun-trial/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00747c6124d5aaed/698a57b686f68e35196f5391/hunter-biden-felony-conviction-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: hunter-biden-felony-conviction-01 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hunter Biden Found Guilty in Federal Gun Trial twitter:description: For the first time, a sitting President’s son has been convicted of a felony in a criminal trial. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt00747c6124d5aaed/698a57b686f68e35196f5391/hunter-biden-felony-conviction-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hunter Biden Found Guilty on Gun Charges > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=60ae3cbe-d477-432c-b487-dda2446aed7d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Hunter Biden Found Guilty on Gun Charges [Watch (HLS stream): Hunter Biden Found Guilty on Gun Charges](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2DAZBupw.m3u8) (1:13)  _Published 2024-06-11. Hunter Biden has been convicted of all three felony charges related to the purchase of a revolver in 2018 when, prosecutors argued, the president's son lied on a mandatory gun-purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs._  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Jun 11, 2024 4:02 PM UTC  Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, leaves the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 11, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, leaves the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 11, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware. Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Jun 11, 2024 4:02 PM UTC For the first time, a sitting President’s son has been convicted of a felony in a criminal trial. A federal jury in Delaware on Tuesday found Hunter Biden guiltyfor lying about his drug use when buying a gun in 2018\. Prosecutors had presented the jury with photos, testimony and messages that showed Biden had a .38 caliber Colt Cobra revolver for about 11 days during a period he had previously acknowledged he had been struggling with drug addiction. The jury deliberated for about three hours over two days and found Biden guilty of three felonies including making a false claim on a gun purchase form that he was not a drug user, lying to a federally licensed firearms dealer, and unlawfully possessing the weapon for 11 days. First Lady Jill Biden arrived at the courthouse in Wilmington to show her support for Hunter Biden shortly after the verdict was read on Tuesday morning. His aunt Valerie Biden Owens and his uncle James Biden were also at the courthouse Tuesday. During closing arguments on Monday, President Biden had arranged his schedule so he would be at his home about 5 miles from the federal courthouse for most of the day before returning to the White House for a concert marking Juneteenth on the South Lawn. Biden is the first sitting president to have to contend with running the country while their child was being prosecuted by their own Justice Department. The jury's decision is not only a crushing blow to the President and his family, but throws an unpredictable wrench in a presidential race that could be a nail biter. Hunter Biden’s conviction comes less than two weeks after a Manhattan jury found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts for falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid to a porn star. Democrats have expressed hope that Trump's new status as a felon will undermine his appeal to swing voters. It's unclear if the conviction of the current President's own son will shift the contours of the contest. Biden has repeatedly said he would not interfere with the judicial process in his son’s case, vowing to accept the jury’s verdict and ruling out using his authority to pardon Hunter. “I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal,” President Biden said in a statement released after the guilty verdict on Tuesday. In his statement, Biden spoke directly to Hunter Biden’s struggle with drug addiction, saying that “so many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery.” Biden said that he and the First Lady will “always be there” for Hunter and the rest of their family. “Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today,” Biden said. After the verdict, Hunter Biden said in a statement that he is “disappointed by the outcome” but “more grateful” for the love and support shown by his family and friends. He also referenced his efforts to recover from drug addiction. “Recovery is possible by the grace of God, and I am blessed to experience that gift one day at a time,” he said. Biden’s defense team had argued in court that Biden bought the gun during a period of sobriety while he was swinging back and forth between drug use and rehabilitation. The defense also claimed that the federal form was too vague about what defined a drug user or how long before purchasing a gun a person was expected to have not used illegal drugs But the jury believed Justice Department prosecutors had shown enough evidence that Hunter Biden was a drug user at the time of the purchase to convict him. In his closing argument, prosecutor Leo Wise told jurors that no one was above the law and that the jury should take into account Hunter Biden’s pattern of drug use; evidence presented during the trial suggested he had used drugs weeks before purchasing the gun and in the days after. The trial shined a harsh spotlight on Hunter Biden’s internal family turmoil, particularly in the years following the death of his older brother Beau Biden from brain cancer in 2015\. Hunter’s daughter Naomi as well as his brother’s widow Hallie were called to testify and exposed the turbulent times Hunter Biden went through as he struggled with drug addiction after his brother died. Hallie Biden had a brief, combustible relationship with Hunter Biden after Beau’s death. She told the jury how she found an unloaded handgun while searching Hunter’s truck in October 2018 and was worried Hunter might use it on himself or that her children might find it. So, she said, she took the gun and threw it away into a garbage can at a Wilmington grocery store. That set in motion a chain of events that resulted in Hunter Biden being charged with federal drug crimes. Hallie had testified that she didn’t see him use drugs during the days immediately around the gun purchase. But prosecutors showed the jury a text message about drug use the day before he bought the gun and another message sent the day after. Hunter Biden also faces federal tax charges in Los Angeles for allegedly failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes on income from foreign businesses. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges. That case is set to go to trial in September. The gun charges were brought after a years-long investigation by Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss, the U.S. Attorney for Delaware who was appointed by former President Donald Trump. Weiss initially began investigating Hunter Biden’s tax affairs in December 2020, weeks after Joe Biden won the 2020 election. The decision by Weiss to bring the gun case to trial drew surprise in some legal circles, as it’s an offense that’s rarely prosecuted. Hunter Biden had previously reached an agreement with the Justice Department to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and avoid prosecution on the gun charge if he was willing to submit to probation, enter a diversion program, remain drug-free for 24 months, and agree to never own a firearm again. But that deal fell apart in court in July 2023. ## Transcript Federal jury has convicted Hunter Biden, the president's son of all charges in his indictment, accusing him of lying to get a gun while he was in the throes of a crack addiction back in 2018. Mr. Biden was charged and convicted of all three counts, which is 22 counts of making false statements and one count of illegally possessing a gun while he was in the throes of his addiction. Jury trial lasted about a week comes at a time when his father, the President United States is running a very contentious campaign, and it comes on the heels of former President Donald Trump's trial in New York where he himself was convicted of totally separate and unrelated charges up in New York. What's next in this case is that the judge is going to set a sentencing date that down the line, it's usually about two or three months depending on the district. They're going to do a pre sentence investigation where they're going to talk to people in his life nor Biden's life about his history, not only with drugs, but with other parts of his life. And then the judge is going to get calculated sentencing guidelines, which means it's a recommendation for what his sentence might be. It might be zero to six months in prison. It might be something more than that. We just don't know at this point. 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