Now that Hunter Biden's gun trial is in the books along with his three convictions, his legal team is no doubt gearing up for his next date with the legal system. In September, he will be heading back to California to face a collection of tax evasion charges. The two cases are mostly unrelated, but will the first one still have some sort of impact on the second? In the opinion of law professor Jonathan Turley, it definitely could. The fact that he was convicted of illegally purchasing and possessing a firearm won't be an issue in the California case, but assuming he is sentenced for those crimes, that could impact any sentence he might receive if he's convicted of the tax charges. Hunter will be sentenced initially as a person with no criminal history. That won't be true when he faces the tax charges so the court could potentially come down on him significantly harder. (NY Post)

Hunter Biden’s conviction on felony gun charges increases the likelihood he could face stiffer penalties at his September tax-evasion trial should he be found guilty, an expert told The Post.

One of Biden’s current mitigating factors for when he is sentenced by Judge Maryellen Noreika on the gun charges is the fact that he has no criminal history — something that won’t be true during his next trial in California overseen by Judge Mark C. Scarsi.

Both jurists were appointed to the federal bench by former President Donald Trump.

A defendant in a criminal case with no prior criminal record can point to that as a "mitigating factor" when the judge is preparing to hand down a sentence. This is something that Hunter's legal team is no doubt planning to do when he faces sentencing on the gun charges. Despite the serious nature of the offenses, it's still entirely possible that he will get off without jail time, though some sort of fine and probably probation are almost unavoidable.

That won't be an option if he is convicted in California. He will be facing trial there as a defendant who is a convicted felon and potentially on probation. That creates a mitigating factor in the other direction, despite the fact that the charges stem from actions he took years before his gun charge conviction. Repeat offenders tend to draw harsher sentences. Considering the significant amount of money that Hunter failed to pay, that sentence could add up to years behind bars.

Of course, none of this is assured for the time being. After sentencing, Hunter's lawyers will certainly appeal his conviction. There shouldn't be much of a chance for that appeal to succeed given the open-and-shut nature of the case against him, but you never know. We're still talking about someone with the surname Biden being dealt with in a court in Delaware. It was rather shocking that he was convicted, to begin with. Given enough bites at the apple, he could still wind up getting lucky.

Turley goes on to say that the potential sentencing in the tax case is "far more serious" than in the gun case. He describes Hunter's decision to not seek a plea deal in Delaware to avoid prison time as "insane." The same goes for the tax case in California. That doesn't seem to be Hunter Biden's style, however. The idea of pleading guilty to anything must be a bitter pill to swallow if your name is Biden and you were raised believing that you were untouchable and everything would always go your way. Also, unlike the rest of us, Hunter still has the possibility of a pardon or at least a commutation awaiting him if all of these cases go against him. Joe Biden has publicly stated that he will neither pardon Hunter nor commute his sentence. But the President lies all of the time. Once the election in November is over, there will be no further political repercussions for Joe Biden no matter whether he wins or loses. If I were a betting man, I would venture to say that the smart money is on Joe Biden pardoning Hunter within days of the vote totals being announced.