WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the appeal of Hunter Biden's former business partner who was convicted in 2018 for his role in a scheme to fraudulently sell more than $60 million in tribal bonds.
Devon Archer was sentenced to one year and one day in prison last year, and the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Archer's appeal of the sentence.
Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, is not involved in the plan. But Mr. Archer's relationship with Mr. Biden was brought up to burnish his credentials, according to court records.
While Archer appealed the ruling, House Republicans questioned him about other business dealings. Mr. Archer and Mr. Biden both served on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
Republicans are looking for evidence that Joe Biden was also involved in and profited from his family's business dealings.
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Archer told the House Oversight and Accountability Committee last year that Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone with colleagues about 20 times during their 10-year partnership. However, Archer testified that “there were no business conversations.”
“It was just common courtesy, general conversation about geography and weather and other things,” Archer testified.
In addition to the prison term, Archer was also ordered to forfeit $15.7 million and pay $43.4 million in restitution.
The Supreme Court rejected Archer's first appeal in 2021. In his second appeal, Mr. Archer raised new questions about errors the district court made in calculating the sentencing range. The Justice Department argued that Archer waited too long to file an objection.
