Judge Who Will Sentence Hunter Biden Kept Trial Moving

The judge who oversaw Hunter Biden’s federal firearms case — and will ultimately decide his sentence — is Maryellen Noreika, a no-nonsense Trump appointee who uncovered holes in an earlier plea agreement and is the main reason he stood trial.

Judge Noreika, a 57-year-old former patent and intellectual property litigator, has served on the United States District Court for the District of Delaware since 2017. She is not an especially high-profile figure in the legal community of the country’s second-smallest state. She had not worked on criminal cases or presided over a courtroom before President Donald J. Trump nominated her to the federal bench during his first year in office.

She acted swiftly on motions and moved the case along, rejecting repeated requests for postponements by Mr. Biden’s legal team. But Judge Noreika did not schedule a date for Mr. Biden’s sentencing after he was found guilty on all three felony counts on Tuesday, although she said that it typically takes place within 120 days of a verdict.

David C. Weiss, the special counsel, flanked by Leo Wise and Derek Hines, the two prosecutors who oversaw the trial, reiterated Tuesday that he brought the case because nobody “is above the law” — but also suggested the government would not seek a sentence more severe than for any other person convicted in such a case.

In a stunning hearing last July, Judge Noreika uncovered holes in a proposed plea deal between the Justice Department and Mr. Biden that offered him broad immunity — scuttling a plea deal that would have settled tax and gun charges against Mr. Biden.

In the succeeding weeks, Mr. Weiss indicted Mr. Biden for firearms offenses in Delaware and for failure to pay his taxes in California. The judge overseeing