Wilmington, Delaware – Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty Tuesday to an illegal gun possession charge, marking the latest chapter in his troubled life just as his father President Joe Biden accelerates his campaign for reelection next year.

Hunter Biden (53) entered the federal court in his family hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, without speaking to waiting reporters.

As expected, he entered a not guilty plea to three felony charges stemming from his purchase of a .38-caliber Colt Cobra revolver in 2018 when, by his own admission, he was heavily addicted to drugs and barely in control of his life.

Hunter Biden is charged with two counts of making false statements for claiming on forms required for the gun purchase that he was not using drugs illegally at the time.

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He faces a third charge, based on the same statements, that he illegally possessed the gun – which he had for only 11 days in October 2018 – before he got rid of it.

Hunter Biden's multiple legal troubles and controversies – which extend to facing ferocious accusations from Republican politicians that he engaged in corrupt business practices in China and Ukraine – are a constant drag on his father's political standing as he seeks a second term in 2024.

Republicans have opened an impeachment inquiry in Congress on what they claim is a Biden family criminal conspiracy but have provided no evidence that the president did anything wrong.

In response to the constant drip-drip of scandal, Joe Biden has repeatedly said he stands by his son and loves him for his attempts to recover from drug addiction.

If convicted, Hunter Biden could in theory face 25 years in prison, though in practice such offenses, if not accompanied by other charges, are seldom punished by any jail time.

In July, a plea deal between Hunter Biden and federal prosecutor David Weiss – which would have erased the gun charges while Biden pleaded guilty to two tax charges and avoided prison – fell apart.