Rowdy
04-24-2008, 06:30 PM
Wesley Snipes Receives Three-Year Jail Sentence on Tax Evasion Charges
Thursday, April 24, 2008
OCALA, Fla. — A federal judge has sentenced action star Wesley Snipes to the maximum three-year sentence on tax charges.
Prosecutors had requested the maximum three-years, one year for each of Snipes' convictions of willfully failing to file a tax return.
Snipes' attorneys had argued for a shorter sentence during the penalty phase, which lasted the until the early evening. A jury found him guilty in February of willfully failing to file taxes for three years, in which the government said he owed $2.7 million.
But Snipes' attorneys said in court his tax liability was only $228,000. Even if U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges accepted their argument, sentencing enhancements put Snipes within range of the three-year prison term prosecutors wanted.
Snipes was acquitted of three identical misdemeanors and two felony charges of tax fraud and conspiracy.
The actor's attorneys said the government's sentencing guidelines aren't fair for tax convictions like his. They wanted him let off with no prison and no fine.
Snipes' lawyers offered three dozen letters from family members, friends and even fellow actors Woody Harrelson and Denzel Washington attesting to his good character. They argued he should get only probation, because all three convictions were misdemeanors and the actor had no previous criminal record.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
OCALA, Fla. — A federal judge has sentenced action star Wesley Snipes to the maximum three-year sentence on tax charges.
Prosecutors had requested the maximum three-years, one year for each of Snipes' convictions of willfully failing to file a tax return.
Snipes' attorneys had argued for a shorter sentence during the penalty phase, which lasted the until the early evening. A jury found him guilty in February of willfully failing to file taxes for three years, in which the government said he owed $2.7 million.
But Snipes' attorneys said in court his tax liability was only $228,000. Even if U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges accepted their argument, sentencing enhancements put Snipes within range of the three-year prison term prosecutors wanted.
Snipes was acquitted of three identical misdemeanors and two felony charges of tax fraud and conspiracy.
The actor's attorneys said the government's sentencing guidelines aren't fair for tax convictions like his. They wanted him let off with no prison and no fine.
Snipes' lawyers offered three dozen letters from family members, friends and even fellow actors Woody Harrelson and Denzel Washington attesting to his good character. They argued he should get only probation, because all three convictions were misdemeanors and the actor had no previous criminal record.