Actor Wesley Snipes Ordered to Prison For Tax Evasion

Actor Wesley Snipes (Getty Images)

By Stephen Hudak, Orlando Sentinel

OCALA – A federal judge today rejected movie star Wesley Snipes' demand for a new trial and ordered the actor to surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to begin serving a 36-month prison sentence for tax-related crimes.

In a 17-page order, U.S. District Court Judge William Terrell Hodges said, "The Defendant Snipes had a fair trial; he has had a full, fair and thorough review of his conviction and sentence by the Court of Appeals; and he has had a full, fair and thorough review of his present claims, during all of which he has remained at liberty. The time has come for the judgment to be enforced."

Snipes, 48, an Orlando-born star of "Jungle Fever," "White Men Can't Jump," and the Fugitive sequel "U.S. Marshals," was convicted in 2008 of three misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file federal tax returns.

Prosecutors contend he obstructed the IRS and attempted to avoid paying millions in federal taxes.

Daniel Meachum, an Atlanta-based lawyer who presented the actor's arguments for a new trial, could not be immediately reached for comment. He hoped the judge would grant Snipes a new trial after receiving emails from two jurors who claimed that other members of the panel concluded the actor was guilty before the trial began.

Meachum said those relevations, if true, require a new trial for Snipes.

The judge's order requires Snipes to "surrender himself" upon receipt of notice from the U.S. Marshal Service or from the federal Bureau of Prisons. It is unclear in the order where and when he must turn himself in.

Best known as the vampire-killing hero in the science-fiction trilogy, "Blade," Snipes was accused of conspiring with Eddie Ray Kahn of Lake County to avoid paying more than $15 million in taxes from 1999 to 2004.

The conspiracy charge accused Snipes of seeking a fraudulent refund of $7.3 million.

Kahn, who founded American Rights Litigators in Mount Dora, sold illegal tax-dodging schemes and persuaded the actor that he had no obligation to pay federal income taxes. Kahn was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Comments

[File Federal Tax]

Ok i like your post. Now file your federal tax electronically. There are so many federal tax filing options are available on internet for US tax payers and e filing is the most suitable way for your federal taxes 2010.