What Hunter Biden's Time in Prison Would Look Like

Hunter Biden is fighting the federal charges against him, but if he's unsuccessful and sentenced to prison, the president's son could have an unusual experience behind bars.

Biden is facing nine felony and misdemeanor tax charges on the federal level in California and three federal gun charges in Delaware. Last month, he pleaded not guilty to the tax charges after his plea deal collapsed last summer. If convicted, he faces up to 17 years in prison. On Tuesday, Biden again asked a judge to dismiss the gun case against him.

If Biden is sentenced to prison, he would do time under conditions that are different from what most prisoners experience. Although the length, timing and conditions of a potential imprisonment remain unknown, legal experts told Newsweek what he might expect if he's convicted and sentenced.

One of the main differences is that as a child of a serving president, Biden would have Secret Service protection available to him. But because this is an election year, it is not certain that his father will be in the White House at the time of a possible sentencing.

Former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek that while adult children of former presidents aren't automatically entitled to Secret Service protection, it "might be made available if someone is at unusual risk."

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek, "Hunter Biden would still be authorized to receive Secret Service protection in federal prison if he is convicted and receives a sentence of incarceration. He can decline the protection, and the protection would also stop if his father is no longer president. But the Secret Service rules don't change in prison."

Rahmani said regardless of whether or not Biden is granted Secret Service protection, it is still likely that the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) would separate him from the rest of the prison population because of the possible risk to his safety as a high-profile inmate.

It's also expected that Donald Trump, who has been indicted in four criminal cases, would be isolated because of security concerns if he's convicted and sentenced to prison.

"I would anticipate that [Trump] would not have any contact with inmates in the general population," Robert Rogers, an associate professor of criminal justice at Middle Tennessee State University who worked for the BOP, previously told Newsweek.

"If he had any contact at all with other prisoners, it would probably be in a separate, secured unit with other 'dirty' cops, prosecutors and judges," Rogers said.

Still, McAuliffe said it's too early to speculate what Biden's time in prison will look like.

"The prosecution of Hunter Biden is far from over, so it's an enormous leap to consider his potential incarceration," he said. Biden's case still needs to go to trial, he added, and the president's son would have to be convicted before sentencing by the court.

McAuliffe said that at a sentencing hearing, the judge could consider not sending Biden to prison since "the status of felon is in itself a punishment for a public figure like Hunter Biden."

"And even if he is convicted and sentenced to some type of imprisonment, he could very well be allowed to stay on bond during the inevitable appeals," McAuliffe said.