Hunter Biden will plead guilty to tax evasion charges in an about-turn as jury selection was due to begin on the first day of his trial.
The 54-year-old son of Joe Biden, the US president, had previously intended to plead not guilty to the allegations that he failed to pay $1.4 million (£1.1 million) in taxes while spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury hotels.
“Mr Biden intends to change his plea this morning,” Abbe Lowell, his lawyer, told the judge soon after the accused walked into the courtroom holding hands with his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, and flanked by Secret Service agents.
Mark Geragos, one of Biden’s lawyers, said that he intended to enter an Alford plea, under which a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to gain a conviction.
The plea would avoid a weeks-long trial that likely would have aired messy details of Biden’s personal life ahead of the presidential election.