Hunter Biden Faces Jail Time After New Contempt Motion

Lunden Roberts has dropped the gauntlet: she’s asking an Arkansas judge to throw Hunter Biden behind bars until he pays up. No more polite reminders. No more sidelines. She demands incarceration at Independence County Detention Center as a civil penalty for his repeated contempt.

Roberts says Hunter agreed in 2023 to hand over a specified number of his artwork proceeds to their 7-year-old daughter, Navy. In return, she slashed her child-support demand from $20,000 a month to $5,000. He signed off, the court records show—and then he simply stopped complying.

Her new motion leaves no room for excuses. “Incarcerate him … until he purges his contempt by complying with this court’s orders,” Roberts’ lawyers state flatly. She argues that only the prospect of jail will force Hunter’s hand.

This battle has dragged on since a 2019 court-ordered DNA test confirmed Hunter’s paternity. He spent years denying he fathered Navy Joan Roberts. Only after the test did he finally admit it—and even then, only under court pressure.

For Navy, the fallout has been painful. Scheduled phone calls turned into silence after her mother published “Out of the Shadows” in 2024—an unflattering memoir that, Roberts insists, never disparaged her father. Navy attended a family wedding last year, only to watch Hunter snub his own child on the dance floor. The emotional damage was obvious.

Roberts’ filing points out the unfair double standard. Hunter’s other children enjoy the privileges of being the president’s grandchildren. Navy gets none of it. “MC1 has begun to realize that she does not have access to the same lifestyle as Mr. Biden’s other children,” the motion states. “That is not fair.”

Hunter’s track record on accountability is clear. He’s pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors, reached a plea deal on federal felony charges, and spent time under court supervision. Yet when it comes to supporting his own daughter, Roberts says, he treats court orders like suggestions.

Roberts is not stopping at incarceration. She’s asking the court to revisit the financial terms, arguing that Hunter’s income has skyrocketed since the last ruling. His art sales and book advances outpace the support he’s handing over, she contends, leaving Navy on the short end of the stick.

The motion leaves no doubt where Roberts stands: if Hunter won’t step up, he belongs in jail. “The defendant should be incarcerated as a criminal penalty for flaunting the dignity and authority of this court,” her lawyers declare.

This latest maneuver marks a bold escalation. Roberts has given Hunter Biden every opportunity to do the right thing. Now she’s betting that the only language he’ll truly understand is the clang of prison doors closing behind him.

Arkansas courts will decide. But one thing is certain: Hunter Biden’s excuses have run out. The question now is whether the justice system will force him to keep his word—or whether he’ll continue to treat a daughter’s future as collateral damage in his personal drama.