Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to federal tax charges on the same day jury selection in his trial was scheduled to begin, The Associated Press reports.
This was a surprise move as Biden had previously pleaded not guilty in January to nine tax-related crimes, including filing a false return, tax evasion, failure to file and failure to pay.
The charges against Biden carry a maximum penalty of up to 17 years in prison. However, the Justice Department has noted that sentences issued for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.
Biden is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
The president's son was accused of engaging in a four-year scheme to evade paying taxes totaling at least $1.4 million and falsifying some of his tax returns by claiming personal spending as business expenses.
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The Department of Justice said Biden stopped paying his outstanding and overdue taxes for tax year 2015, and willfully failed to pay his 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 taxes on time, despite having access to funds to pay some or all of these taxes.
The Department of Justice also said that when Biden finally filed his 2018 returns, he included false business deductions to reduce the tax liability he faced as of February 2020.
Some of the expenses include spending on what prosecutors call an "extravagant" lifestyle punctuated by illegal drugs and payments to women with whom he allegedly had sexual relationships.
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The younger Biden has said the death of his brother Beau, in 2015, launched him into a spiral of drug abuse. Biden's lawyers have also suggested the early childhood trauma associated with surviving, at the age of 2, a car accident that killed his mother and sister has further contributed to his drug abuse.
