Gary Shapley’s comments come a week after the Trump-appointed US attorney for Delaware, David Weiss, who has been leading the probe, announced a plea deal in the case against Hunter Biden.

A Republican who said he has no political motive and has never been engaged in politics, Shapley told CBS News he believes stronger charges could have been brought.

According to a Justice Department filing made public last week, Hunter Biden reached a tentative deal with the U.S. attorney in Delaware, agreeing to enter guilty pleas to two misdemeanor tax charges and admitting to felony gun possession.

Hunter Biden’s plea will include an acknowledgement that drug use was a contributing factor in his gun crime, and he will enter into a pretrial diversion agreement on that charge, according to the filing. It is expected that for two years, Hunter Biden must remain drug-free and must not commit additional crimes. If he fulfills this successfully, the gun count would be dismissed. This does not amount to a guilty plea.

A federal judge has yet to approve the deal. A hearing has been scheduled on July 26 before Judge Maryellen Noreika at the federal courthouse in Wilmington.

“Based on my experience, if this was a small business owner or any other non-connected person, they would have been charged with felony counts,” Shapley stated.

Shapley told CBS News that Hunter Biden wrote off as business expenses the money he paid for “prostitutes, sex club memberships, travel for the prostitutes, hotel rooms for purported drug dealers, no show employees.”

Hunter Biden’s criminal attorney, Christopher Clark, did not respond to a request for comment regarding Shapley’s allegations. But in an earlier statement, issued at the time the plea arrangement was announced, he said “as his attorney through this entire matter, I can say that any suggestion the investigation was not thorough, or cut corners, or cut my client any slack, is preposterous and deeply irresponsible.”

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