Wesley Snipes gets 3 years prison term for not paying tax

Actor Wesley Snipes is reported to have sentenced for three years in prison for failing to file tax returns for the years 1999 - 2001. Reuters reports that the ‘Blade’ star was convicted in February on three misdemeanour counts while AFP writes: Judge William Terrell Hodges laid down the harshest possible sentence against Snipes, after the star of such movies as “Demolition Man” and the “Blade” trilogy of vampire movies was found guilty by a jury in February on three misdemeanor charges.

Wesley snipes speaks in court: “I am very sorry for my mistakes and errors. This will never happen again.” According to Prosecutors Snipes earned over $38m since 1999 but not paid any taxes for the years 1999 to 2007 prior to last Thursday. Wesley Snipes legal team tried to give the judge three envelopes with cheque totalling $5m but the judge and prosecutor said they could not accept the payments and they were collected by an Internal Revenue Service agent during the recess. Prosecutors explained these cheques as a “grandstanding move”.

After Snipes described himself as an “idealist, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritual-seeking artist” and said he epitomised the colloquialism “mo’ money, mo’ problems”. Hes plans to appeal but prosecutors intend to oppose any request to allow him to stay out of prison while the appeal is pending. According to US Attorney Scotland Morris, who argued the government’s case, Snipes currently owes more than 20 million dollars in back taxes and penalties.

“Snipes’ long prison sentence should send a loud and crystal clear message to all tax defiers that if they engage in similar tax defier conduct, they face joining him and his co-defendants … as inmates in prison,” said Nathan Hochman, an official at the US Department of Justice Tax Division. “The law is very clear: people must pay their taxes,” added IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman. “There is no secret formula that eliminates a person’s tax obligations, nor are there any special exceptions.”

Another defense attorney, Carmen Hernandez, said: “Mr. Snipes was sentenced because he’s Mr. Snipes.” Judge Hodges, however, denied that Snipes’ celebrity was in any way linked to the harsh sentence. Wesley Snipes attorneys asked Hodges to allow Snipes to be sent to a prison close to his home in the northeastern state of New Jersey. The judge said he would consider the request.

A martial arts fanatic, Snipes is famous for inserting quotations from Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” into his characters’ roles. Snipes, who has appeared in some 50 movies, also starred in “White Men Can’t Jump,” and Spike Lee’s “Jungle Fever.” During the day-long hearing Snipes apologized to the court for his actions.

Snipes displayed no emotion when the sentence was read. Also sentenced in the case were two co-defendants, Eddie Ray Kahn, 64, and Douglas Rosile, 59, both Florida residents.

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