Hunter Biden proposes a confession in tax cases that would avoid criminal proceedings

According to media reports, Hunter Biden's lawyer has proposed a deal in which the president's son would agree that there was sufficient evidence for a conviction in his criminal tax case, but at the same time would continue to maintain his innocence.

Prosecutors are currently considering the offer from attorney Abbe Lowell after first hearing about it in open court as jury selection was about to begin in the trial of the Biden son, according to CBS News. The offer is a so-called “Alford plea,” which allows a defendant to maintain his innocence despite admitting that the prosecution has a good case.

Hunter Biden was charged in California federal court with three serious and six minor tax offenses. Prosecutors alleged he failed to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes on time and evaded other taxes while spending millions on a lavish lifestyle.

The three charges – one count of tax evasion and two counts of filing a false tax return – relate to 2018. Hunter Biden intentionally misreported taxes for that year, including by falsely claiming that payments to women with whom he had romantic and sexual relationships were wages. He had previously pleaded not guilty.

The maximum penalty for this charge is 17 years in prison, but such a high sentence would be unlikely even without a deal.

According to Justice Department policy, U.S. prosecutors are not permitted to agree to an Alford plea “except under the most unusual circumstances” and only with the approval of a senior department official.

It's unclear how those guidelines apply to David Weiss, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland as special counsel for the tax and gun investigations into the president's son. The special counsel role means Weiss has more independence in the case than a typical Justice Department prosecutor.

Hunter Biden had previously agreed to plead guilty to two tax offenses as part of a deal that potentially would have allowed him to avoid prison time for both tax offenses and a weapons offense. But the deal fell through when he and prosecutors disagreed on whether the agreement would protect him from future charges and a judge refused to quickly approve the deal.

In June, Weiss secured a conviction in Hunter Biden's trial on weapons charges that carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. But legal experts say such a severe sentence is unlikely at his Nov. 13 sentencing, which is a first-time, nonviolent conviction. Among the charges was that he lied on a federal form about his drug use in order to buy a gun.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hunter Biden proposes confession to avoid criminal tax trial