Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to federal tax charges Thursday, heading off the cost and reputational toll of a trial that was expected to further shine an unflattering light on his past business dealings and freewheeling lifestyle. Biden’s surprise plea capped a whirlwind morning in Los Angeles federal court, where jury selection was set to begin for Biden’s tax trial. At the outset of Thursday’s court proceedings, Biden’s lawyer proposed an unusual deal where President Joe Biden’s son would maintain his innocence while conceding that the evidence was sufficient for a guilty verdict. Prosecutors said they were shocked by the proposal of a so-called Alford deal and wouldn’t support any plea without an admission of guilt. “Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty,” prosecutor Leo Wise told U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, a Trump appointee presiding over the case. Meanwhile, more than 100 potential jurors sat waiting elsewhere in the courthouse. Later Thursday, an attorney for Biden came back from a break and told Scarsi his client would abandon the Alford plea and plead guilty without any negotiated deal with prosecutors working under special counsel David Weiss. “Let’s move on,” Abbe Lowell, Biden’s attorney, said in court. Lowell said the criminal case has marked a difficult time for the Biden family and that further strain would come from a Los Angeles trial that was set to include Biden family members as witnesses. As the plea got under way, Scarsi told Biden the charges come with a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of between $500,000 and $1 million. Prosecutors have said that Biden, a Yale Law School graduate, spent lavishly on drugs, escorts and luxury hotels, all while neglecting his tax obligations.

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