‘Real Risk Of Prison Time’: CNN Legal Analyst Breaks Down Hunter’s Plea Breakdown

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig warned Thursday that Hunter Biden could face prison time if he goes to trial after his plea deal fell apart Wednesday.

Hunter pleaded not guilty on Wednesday after Judge Maryellen Noreika refused the plea deal made between the Department of Justice and Hunter’s legal team. Noreika raised concerns about the agreement’s “broad immunity” for potential future charges, CNN reported. Hunter initially intended to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and enter a probation agreement for a felony gun charge.

Honig broke down what likely happens next for Hunter.

“This was not your average plea deal, not your average plea hearing. They went from we have a deal to we don’t have a deal to we do have a deal to we don’t have a deal. Let’s sort of talk about what’s next. Let’s start with what’s next. Option one is they can try to get together, the judge has given them 30 days. She says get back to me. I need legal briefing on you but If they can get together on a deal where they agree on everything, then they can go in and Hunter Biden can take a plea deal,” Honig explained. (RELATED: Hunter Biden Linked To Several Companies Seeking Delaware Government Help During Obama-Biden Era, Emails Show)

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“It can be similar to what the deal was supposed to be. They have to iron out the details. If they cannot do that option two is it will be a trial. That is very risky for Hunter Biden. That will be on the tax charges, that could be on the gun charge, could be on other things and if he goes to trial there’s a real risk if he’s convicted of prison time. So Hunter Biden is going to be very incentivized to get that plea deal back together.”

Honig said Wednesday that the type of plea-deal Hunter was given is “fairly rare in the federal system,” a sentiment also echoed by MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos, who said misdemeanor charges are typically accompanied by felony charges.