Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, has pleaded guilty to federal tax charges.

In a surprise move, the plea avoids a potentially embarrassing trial weeks before the presidential election.

Hunter Biden, 54, had been set to stand trial on criminal charges of failing to pay $1.4m in taxes while allegedly spending lavishly on drugs, sex workers and luxury items.

Instead, he pleaded guilty to all nine counts he faced.

Judge Mark Scarsi told him he faces up to 17 years in prison and up to $450,000 in penalties – although guidelines are likely to call for a much shorter sentence.

He will be sentenced on 16 December, more than a month after the election on 5 November, for which his father will not be on the ballot after withdrawing.

In June, Hunter Biden was convicted of three firearm charges in the first criminal prosecution of a sitting US president’s offspring.

Prosecutors said he lied on a form when buying a pistol in October 2018 by stating he was not a drug user or addict, despite a problem with crack cocaine.

He is appealing against that conviction, with the current verdict increasing the chances of him facing a stiffer sentence for the tax case as he would be a repeat offender.

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Hunter Biden was accused of failing to pay taxes from 2016 to 2019 while spending huge sums “on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature,” according to an indictment.

The trial could also have brought his work with Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma into the spotlight, as well as other business dealings while his father was vice president.

The indictment states Hunter Biden “earned handsomely” while serving on the boards of Burisma and a Chinese private equity fund.

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Republicans, who form the opposition to the president’s Democratic Party, have claimed those activities by his son were corrupt.

Hunter Biden has denied any improper business dealings and Republican-led investigations have not implicated the president in any wrongdoing.

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