An attorney for a Virginia woman facing prison time for lying on her federal gun purchase application said Thursday that he will cite Hunter Biden’s “sweetheart” plea deal as a reason to reduce her looming sentence.
“In our sentencing memo, we will surely raise the inconsistency in the government’s approach to a vulnerable and scared very young mother, who does not have a privileged background and connections,” defense attorney Eugene Rossi told The Washington Times.
Mr. Rossi represents Deja Taylor, 25, who has pleaded guilty to lying about her marijuana use when she applied for a gun purchase. Her 6-year-old son used the 9 mm semi-automatic pistol on Jan. 6 to shoot his elementary school teacher in Newport News, Virginia. The case has received massive media coverage.
A single mother living with her parents, Taylor faces a possible 18 to 24 months in prison for the same felony charge as Hunter Biden: lying about drug use on a federal background form to purchase a firearm.
In the case of the president’s 53-year-old son, the U.S. attorney leading the prosecution has recommended no jail time and a pretrial “diversion” program that will likely erase the charge from his criminal record. Hunter Biden was abusing crack cocaine at the time he purchased a Colt .38-caliber pistol.
Hunter Biden also is facing two years of probation in an agreement to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay federal income taxes.
“Why does the prodigal son of a president get diversion on the same gun charge — along with the sweetheart deal on the tax crimes?” Mr. Rossi said. “The disparity is a bit hard to comprehend — let alone swallow.”
He called U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ plea deal with Hunter Biden “extremely generous.”
Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear in federal court and enter his plea on July 26 in Wilmington, Delaware. U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, a 2017 Trump appointee, will oversee the case and decide whether to approve the plea deal.
All applicants purchasing legal firearms must complete Form 4473 from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Buyers must answer several questions about their competency, criminal history, drug use, immigration status and history of domestic violence.
“Applicants who knowingly make false statements may also face criminal prosecution for a felony and up to 10 years in federal prison,” the ATF states on its website.
Noting the disparity between the recommended sentences for Taylor and for Hunter Biden, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, tweeted, “What happened to equal justice under the law?”
Lawyers say it’s extremely rare for a defendant to receive probation for a federal gun violation and for failing to pay any taxes on income — in Hunter Biden’s case — of more than $1.5 million per year for two consecutive years.
The plea deal in Hunter Biden’s tax case also is raising concerns at the Justice Department about future prosecutions of tax cheats. A source close to prosecutors said some Justice officials are worried that other defendants in tax cases will cite Hunter Biden’s plea deal as a reason for leniency.
“They are very upset by the Hunter Biden tax plea,” the source said of Justice officials. “And the reason is, Hunter Biden’s name is going to be in all the negotiations in every future tax case. It’s going to come back to haunt them for the next 10 years. They’ve ruined their negotiating power.”
Hunter Biden obtained a lucrative job on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma in 2014. He and his then-business partner Devon Archer were paid millions of dollars for serving on the board when Joseph R. Biden was vice president and served as the Obama administration’s point person for Ukraine.
Mr. Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware, has said his investigation into Hunter Biden is “ongoing,” but the plea deal in the tax case has raised concerns that it will end the Justice Department’s investigation into the president’s son and his overseas business deals.
Congressional Republicans are vowing to keep pursuing investigations of the Biden family’s financial dealings and Hunter Biden’s alleged influence peddling in Ukraine, China and other countries. The probes include an allegation of a $10 million bribe split between the father and son before the Biden presidency.
The president has called the allegations “malarkey” and has said he never discussed his son’s financial dealings with him.
In testimony revealed last week, an IRS whistleblower told Congress that Hunter Biden earned at least $8.3 million and was at least $2.2 million in arrears in taxes from 2014 to 2019. Included in the investigators’ assessment of his income were an $80,000 diamond and a $142,000 Porsche.
He also deducted expenses for hotel rooms for one of his drug dealers, the investigators said.
The testimony disclosed by the House Ways and Means Committee revealed a 2017 WhatsApp message from Hunter Biden to Henry Zhao, a business associate and Chinese Communist Party official, that implicated the president.
The strongly worded message chastised Mr. Zhao for missing a deadline.
“I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter Biden wrote. “And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father.”
The White House on Friday refused to answer questions about the WhatsApp message.
One former IRS agent said Hunter Biden also wrote off hotel rooms rented in his father’s name as business expenses, which the investigator saw as an indication that the vice president at the time was involved in his son’s dealings.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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