Wesley Snipes Gets 3 Years For Not Filing Taxes, But Don’t Tell Harry Reid
Actor Wesley Snipes, previously convicted on three misdemeanor charges of failing to file income taxes, has been sentenced to three years by a Federal Judge:
OCALA, Fla. — A federal judge on Thursday sentenced the actor Wesley Snipes to three years in prison for willfully failing to file tax returns.
Mr. Snipes, who was convicted in February, received one year for each count, to be served consecutively, and an additional year of probation. The sentence was handed down by Judge William Terrell Hodges of Federal District Court.
Mr. Snipes, who apologized for his actions before the sentence was announced, showed no immediate reaction to the verdict.
Judge Hodges allowed Mr. Snipes and a co-defendant, Douglas Rosile, to remain free on bond until they were summoned by either the United States Marshals Service or the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
The sentencing came at the end of a daylong hearing in which lawyers for Mr. Snipes argued for leniency while federal prosecutors sought the maximum penalty possible.
The case was the most prominent tax prosecution since the billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley was convicted of tax fraud in 1989. Mr. Snipes, who has built a worldwide following acting in films like the “Blade” vampire trilogy, must pay up to $17 million in back taxes plus penalties and interest.
Like Helmsley, Snipes’ celebrity and refusal to admit his obvious wrong-doing hurt him significantly when it came to sentencing.
Of course, if he’d had Senate Majority Leader as his attorney, he might have fared better:
The said thing is, I think Senator Reid actually believes what he’s saying.
H/T: Freedom Democrats
