Wesley Snipes is incarcerated

On October 12, 2006, Wesley Snipes, Eddie Ray Kahn, and Douglas P. Rosile were charged with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States und.er 18 U.S.C. § 371 and one count of knowingly making or aiding and abetting the making of a false and fraudulent claim for payment against the United States . . .

Snipes was also charged with six counts of wilfully failing to file Federal income tax returns by their filing dates .  . . The conspiracy charge against Snipes included allegations that he filed a false amended return including a false tax refund claim of over US$4 million for the year 1996 and a false amended return including a false tax refund claim of over US$7.3 million for the year 1997.

The government alleged that Snipes attempted to obtain fraudulent tax refunds using a tax protester theory called the "861 argument" (essentially, an argument that the domestic income of U.S. citizens and residents is not taxable) . . . Snipes used accountants who already had a history of filing false returns to obtain refund payments for their clients.

Snipes was a client with American Rights Litigators, which Kahn operated. As a client . . . The government also charged that Snipes failed to file tax returns for the years 1999 through 2004.
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In a December 4, 2006 letter from Snipes in response to his indictment, he declared himself "a non-resident alien" of the United States . . .Snipes is (actually) a US born citizen.

On February 1, 2008, Snipes was acquitted on the felony count of conspiracy to defraud the government and on the felony count of filing a false claim with the government.

He was, however, found guilty on three misdemeanour counts of failing to file Federal income tax returns . . .

His co-defendants, Douglas P. Rosile and Eddie Ray Kahn, were convicted on the conspiracy and false claim charges in connection with the income tax refund claims filed for Snipes.


On April 24, 2008, Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison for wilful failure to file federal income tax returns . . . While defense lawyers urged leniency, prosecutors argued that Snipes should be made an example of because of his fame. Kahn was sentenced to ten years in prison, and Rosile was sentenced to four and half years in prison.

On July 16, 2010, in a 35-page decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed Snipes' convictions. At the conclusion of its decision, the Court of Appeals stated:

Although Snipes argues that there were mitigating factors that the judge did not specifically mention at sentencing, these facts -- his college education, his family, and his charitable activities -- do not compel the conclusion that the sentence crafted in accordance with the 18 U.S.C.  . . . was substantively unreasonable. The district court acted well within its considerable discretion in sentencing Snipes to thirty-six months in prison.

On November 19, 2010, the United States District Court in Ocala, Florida denied motions for permission to interview jurors and motions for a new trial which had been filed by attorneys for Snipes.

The Court ordered that the judgment of commitment be enforced. In the seventeen page Order, the Court also granted the prosecution's motion to revoke the bail for Snipes.

Imprisonment

On December 9, 2010, Snipes reported to the Federal Correctional Institution McKean near Lewis Run, Pennsylvania. In a television appearance on December 7, 2010, Snipes was asked by CNN's Larry King if he was nervous about going to prison and admitted his trepidation about doing time. "

Snipes said:

I think any man would be nervous," . "Given the length of time that they are suggesting that I be away from my family, away from my profession, away from my ability to provide for my family and for those who have depended upon me to contribute to society ... I think anyone would be nervous about that.


Snipes is a tax scofflaw and a fool. He is fortunate that he did not get 10 years in prison for tax evasion.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Snipes

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