Westley Snipes sentenced to 3yrs. in prison

[bobbbiez]

Wow!!! One of my favorite actors going to prison for tax evasion. The Judge made an example of him and gave Snipes the max of three years even after he gave the court a 3 million dollar check for the back taxes owed.

Snipes will be serving his time in Upstate New York in Westchester County.

Oh by the way, the Internal Revenue did accept Snipes check.

[bobbbiez]

Just thinking about this and I wish the courts would throw the max at others for the more serious crimes taking place and make examples out of them. But I guess when it comes to the almighty dollar sign they take things more seriously.

[rrogers40]

Should have been longer- today people who break the law are the "victims". This guy thought that he didn't have to pay taxes- all told he could have gotten 15 years.

[bobbbiez]

From what I understand from the trial, he left all up to his agent and business manager to handle those affairs, which most Stars do.

He did get the maximum from what the news is saying.

Come on, realistically, 15 years for what? What victim are you referring to? For the State to take that money and waste it, because don't think for one minute you or I will ever see any of that money lowering our taxes or used for our benefit.
Plus, the fact he did hand the court 3 million dollars. How many victims of serious crimes ever see one penny for their injuries or does the perpetrator usually get the max.

Honestly, I don't know of one person that doesn't cheat while filing their income taxes and I don't care who they are. A good CPA can hide alot and don't tell me that doesn't happen on a regular basis.

[Disgusted-Daily]

He has no excuses for not paying his taxes. Bottom line is he himself is solely responsible for his taxes. Whats worst other than he had the money was that there was no way he didn't know they were looking for him.

Another so called star trying to make a mockery out of our laws and court system. Shame on him!

bobbbiez,
A good CPA can only hide allot if you have allot, leaves me out. I guess I can't cheat on my taxes, and now you finally know somebody.

[bobbbiez]

But Todd, would you if you could? Now be honest. I know I would. Our government is bleeding us dry and leaving us broke and still taking more and more from us. It's not ending.

Has nothing to do with him being a star with me. I'm personally sick of the courts making an example out of someone with a lesser crime and being too lenient with the violent offenders including the DWI person who kills someone. I think we've all bitched about that and many others that got too less of a sentence for violence. Plus, where is the restitution for those crimes?

I'm not condoling what he did and I'm sure you know that. I just felt the sentence of three years was a little too harsh, especially when he did plan on paying what the DA suggested and handed them a check for three million that day. I didn't see the Internal Revenue refusing it.

There is a movement of people refusing to pay taxes and not paying their taxes because some are unconstitutional. That is the reason they used Snipes as an example.

Now come on, if we all stuck together on this movement I bet alot would change for the taxpayer's benefit. Sh-t, what was the Boston Tea Party for? I guess people back then weren't wimps as we are today.

[Disgusted-Daily]

I think if they didn't have to look for him and he didn't come into court at his leisure with his dumb ass grin and a check in hand maybe the Judge would have been more lenient.

Would I if I could? No I wouldn't because I have enough brain matter in my little head to tell me that I can't because I would get caught just as he did.

I understand your frustration with other laws, I am reminded of it everyday for the next 25yrs of my life. At this point in time we can't allow people to cause anarchy by not paying their taxes. Besides Snipes has not been a good little boy in the past.

I would love to be back in Westchester County and hand him a mop. This is what hurts these people it is not the community service, probation and or fines it is Prison time. Is 3yrs excessive? Yeah for me or you, but not him. He should be leading by example in his position instead he is abusing the gift he has been given.

I have no sympathy for him or anyone that breaks the law. Whatever is their sentence may be, well so be it. All we can do as the little people is be part of the jury and say guilty or not guilty.

[bobbbiez]

Honestly Todd, in this case I would have a very hard time with the three year sentence knowing what I do know and those that got away with less time who did much worse.

I wouldn't have any problem with "all" of us causing anarchy by not paying taxes. I don't feel I'll see it in my life time but if our legislators keep raising them sooner or later it is going to happen and then maybe we'll all be allowed to live without struggling all our lives and our legislators will stop giving themselves raises while we're barely living, losing our homes, and can't go to a grocery store to buy enough food for our families.

Trust me, if I am here, I will be right up front with everyone else withholding my tax payments.

[lrtill]

My sister decided about 15 years ago that the taxes she and her husband were having to pay for their small business was unfair, so she decided to not pay taxes anymore. She wrote a letter to the IRS and said she would pay taxes when they made them fair. She has not paid taxes or gone to jail! They have nothing in their name. My brother in law has since retired but they now work as managers of a mini storage facility where they have housing and utilities included. I assume income taxes are automatically taken out by their employer now but what about all the years of back taxes on the business? MY sister is a little nutty to say the least but I can't understand how she got away with this. Can anyone explain how this has been ignored by the IRS. They both collect Soc. Sec. now also. What the f***! If I did that I'd be in jail.

[bobbbiez]

lrtill, lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You said it, "your sister is a little nutty," (every family has one ). She probably isn't telling you the whole story.

I know well two very prominent businessmen in the Utica area and they were in the same situation as Snipes not paying the proper amount of taxes. We all thought and they did to that they would be wearing orange jumpsuits soon. Nope, didn't happen. Instead of any prison time they were allowed to made arrangements to make restitution.

Now to me that does make more sense. If they were sitting in prison they ain't making any money, the taxpayer has to support them while incarcerated and the government ain't getting more of their money for future taxes. DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You'd all be mighty surprised who those two businessmen are. Sorry, these lips are sealed forever.

Before you jump in Clipper, don't hold your breathe for that to happen on this forum.

[thelma]

IMO - anyone that earns a high income or is self-employed, either has a Business Manager (if they can afford one) and a CPA to handle all their financial/tax dealings. This is why I don't think Mr. Snipes should have been sent to jail. He had already paid the back taxes the IRS claimed he owed - what did going to jail prove?

How about spending our taxpayer resources on going after the big Drug Dealers that handle millions and millions of dollars - all not reported to the government? Wesley Snipes is a well known actor and was easy to find.

I thought the IRS was investigated a few years ago for their over bearing actions and they got their hands slapped and were supposed to be much "softer" in their dealings with the taxpayers.

[Disgusted-Daily]

Who knows maybe his Business Manager & CPA will be held responsible at some level. It was made public that the IRS was looking for him for awhile and he could not return to the States because he was doing a movie. Any normal person that saw and new the IRS was looking for them would have returned to take care of the problem. Instead because he was a Hollywood Actor he returned with the less than I give a shit attitude.

It seems like were trying to justify his negligence for his taxes. Would we have the same compassion for a non-Hollywood Star? I don't think it's fair that we are trying to compare him with a drug dealer, I would expect he should know better vs a drug dealer who isn't that smart to begin with or actually claiming his money.

[Disgusted-Daily]

April 24, 2008: Wesley Snipes, right, enters federal court with his attorneys, where he is to be sentenced for willful failure to file a tax return at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Ocala, Fla.
April 24, 2008: Wesley Snipes, right, enters federal court with his attorneys, where he is to be sentenced for willful failure to file a tax return at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Ocala, Fla.
OCALA, Fla. — After haggling with revenue agents, criminal investigators and eventually U.S. prosecutors for almost a decade, Wesley Snipes finally caught them by surprise.

Hours before he was to be sentenced Thursday for failing to file income taxes he insisted he never had to pay, the action star cut the federal government three checks for $5 million, delivered in court.

So taken aback were prosecutors that they first declined the cash. But by the end of the day, the government took the money and more -- a maximum three-year sentence for its highest-profile criminal tax target in decades.

"The sentencing court sends the right message to the American taxpayer -- you've got to pay your taxes," U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill told reporters outside the usually quiet central Florida courthouse. "Rich, poor, it doesn't matter. We all pay our taxes."

Though Snipes was convicted of three counts of willfully failing to file returns, his trial was held by some as proof of victory for the tax protest movement. Snipes was acquitted of five other charges, including felony tax fraud and conspiracy, that would've exposed him to 13 more years in prison.
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Snipes' attorneys argued the sentence was too stiff for a first-time offender convicted of three misdemeanors, and recommended he be given home detention and ordered to make public service announcements.

But U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges said Snipes exhibited a "history of contempt over a period of time" for U.S. tax laws.

"In my mind these are serious crimes, albeit misdemeanors," Hodges said.

The action star of the "Blade" trilogy, "White Men Can't Jump," "Jungle Fever" and other films hasn't filed a tax return since 1998, the government alleged. Snipes and the IRS still must determine how much he owes, plus interest and penalties. The government alleged Snipes made at least $13.8 million for the three years in question, owing at least $2.7 million in back taxes on them alone.

Snipes read aloud from a prepared apology, calling his actions "costly mistakes" but never mentioning the word "taxes." He said he was the victim of crooked advisers, a liability of wealth and celebrity that attract "wolves and jackals like flies are attracted to meat."

"I am an idealistic, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritually motivated artist, unschooled in the science of law and finance," Snipes said.

His lawyers said he was no threat to society, and offered three dozen letters from family members, friends and even fellow actors Woody Harrelson and Denzel Washington attesting to his compassion, intelligence and value as a mentor. They called four character witnesses Thursday, including television's Judge Joe Brown, who incited applause from the gallery by suggesting Snipes was no different than "mega-corporate entities" that legally avoid taxes.

Hodges twice halted the proceedings to quiet the crowd, threatening to clear everyone out if they made another outburst.

Snipes' co-defendants, Douglas P. Rosile and Eddie Ray Kahn, were convicted on both felony counts on which the actor was acquittal. Kahn, who refused to defend himself in court, was sentenced to the maximum 10 years, while Rosile received 4 1/2 years. Both will serve three years of supervised release.
Snipes and Rosile remain free and will be notified when they are to surrender to authorities. Defense attorney Carmen Hernandez signaled in court that Snipes would pursue an appeal.

Kahn was the founder of American Rights Litigators, and a successor group, Guiding Light of God Ministries, that purported to help members legally avoid paying taxes. Snipes was a dues-paying member of the organization, and Rosile, a de-licensed accountant, prepared Snipes' paperwork.

The actor maintained in a yearslong battle with the IRS he did not have to pay taxes, using fringe arguments common to "tax protesters" who say the government has no legal right to collect. After joining Kahn's group, the government said, Snipes instructed his employees to stop paying their own taxes and sought $11 million in 1996 and 1997 taxes he legally paid.

Defense attorneys Hernandez and Daniel Meachum said Snipes was unfairly targeted because he's famous. Meachum called prosecutors "big game hunters," selectively prosecuting the actor while Kahn's some 4,000 other clients remained free.

Hodges was not swayed.

"One of the main purposes which drives selective prosecution in tax cases is deterrence," the judge said, while denying it had anything to do with his sentence. "In some instances, that means those of celebrity stand greater risk of prosecution. But there's nothing unusual about it, nor is there anything unlawful about it. It's the way the system works."

[corner]

jail in this case is excessive considering the baby bangers dwi's and others that get away with crap inf this case they put the wrong brotha away should have been o j ,snipes should have been made to pay the taxes and a heavy fine.. they didnt incarcerate willy nelson and others for even worse lack of filings.

[bobbbiez]

Agree, Agree, Agree!!!!!! What I've been saying all along.