Hunter Biden committed the same crime I did — but I served time, and he gets a pass

Indian American entrepreneur and ophthalmologist Sreedhar Potarazu, who served time for similar crimes, questions the fairness behind Hunter Biden’s pardon, arguing that it sets a dangerous precedent of unequal accountability.
By Sreedhar Potarazu, MD
There is no phrase that better epitomizes the very foundation of society in the United States than “equal justice under the law.” At its core, anyone who commits a crime must face the consequences of their actions. That includes myself.
In July 2017, I was sentenced to 10 years in prison for providing “materially false and misleading information to the shareholders” of my software company and failing “to account for and pay” employment taxes.
I made terrible mistakes and decisions for which there is no excuse, and I fully accept the punishment I received.
However, there cannot be a double standard for punishment. Hunter Biden committed the same crime that I did.
In September 2024, Hunter pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges, admitting he failed to pay over $1.4 million in taxes on income earned between 2016 and 2019. (In addition, he was convicted in 2023 on three counts of making false statements on a federal firearms purchase form, specifically denying his drug use during the application process.)
There is no excuse for Hunter’s actions either, and he was convicted by a jury of his peers. As required by our justice system, Hunter should serve time in prison as I did for similar crimes. I served nearly six years on a 10-year sentence.
Even though Hunter’s father is the President of the United States, that should not create a double standard for individuals who commit the same offenses.
As a father, there is no doubt that our paternal instincts drive us to protect our children at all costs, especially when they are in danger. However, the harder part of fatherhood lies in the example we set through our own conduct — a lesson I learned the hard way. Actions speak louder than words, and some of the most challenging lessons to teach our children are admitting guilt when we are wrong, learning to accept failure, and taking responsibility for our actions. As fathers, our mistakes can leave lasting scars on our children, scars that do not heal quickly. Few things are more painful than seeing our children suffer because of our lack of judgment.
The best lesson President Biden could have imparted to his son as a father would have been to allow him to face the consequences of his actions. This would have taught Hunter a valuable lesson, not just for himself but for the entire family — something a pardon simply cannot achieve. It would have shown him the justice system as it operates for everyone else and given him the perspective to grow into a better father himself, while also making the president a better grandfather.
Instead, the only lesson Hunter seems to have learned is that money and privilege grant access to a different justice system, one where, like in a casino, the ultra-wealthy enjoy special access. Is this the message Biden wants his grandchildren to internalize? That is not the reality of life, and Biden knows this deeply, having endured numerous personal tragedies. Hunter has issues that require treatment, and sometimes, meaningful reflection in a prison cell is the most effective path to healing, rather than being shielded from accountability.
At my sentencing, prosecutors emphasized the importance of using my case as an example to deter others from committing similar crimes. This raises the question: what message are we sending to society when individuals with influence and wealth can commit the same crime but are not held accountable under the same justice system? Does this imply that the children of the rich and famous are immune to the law?
To make matters worse, while I benefited from the First Step Act and served a reduced sentence, I was still held in prison six months longer than legally permissible because the Biden Administration failed to properly implement the law. A Maryland District Judge even affirmed this in my case. As a result, not only did I serve time for a crime Hunter also committed, but I was also unlawfully detained beyond the allowed period.
Interestingly, one of the prosecutors involved in my case at the U.S. Department of Justice was Jack Morgan. He is the same individual whom Congress subpoenaed for allegedly interfering with the Hunter Biden prosecution. The same Mr. Morgan who, notably, did not comply with the subpoena. The same Mr. Morgan who decided that Hunter should not be prosecuted and effectively undermined the investigation.
The act of pardoning Hunter, unfortunately, adds more fuel to the urgent call for reform within our justice department and legal system. It underscores the need to ensure that every citizen who commits a crime is treated equally, without favoritism. I made mistakes and deserved my punishment, but fairness and impartiality should be the bedrock of justice.
If fatherhood is the justification for the pardon, the better choice would have been to allow Hunter to experience the justice system, even briefly, to understand the consequences of his actions. Later, Biden could have commuted his sentence along with others in similar situations, particularly those who have been incarcerated longer than legally permissible.
Through my own failures, I have learned that what our children take from our actions is whether we show genuine remorse and if we have learned from our mistakes to prevent repeating them. President Biden denied his son what could have been one of the most meaningful lessons he could impart. Instead, he chose to shield him, akin to keeping training wheels on a bike while riding in the back of a limo.
(Sreedhar Potarazu, MD, MBA is an ophthalmologist who served time in federal prison for tax crimes for a software company. He has since returned to the practice of medicine and also serves on the Sentencing Reform Group as an advocate for criminal justice reforms. He had been a frequent guest on Fox News and CNN and author of “Get off the Dime.”)
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