Actor Wesley Snipes ordered to jail (for 3 years) over tax crime

[Turborama]

Source: BBC

Hollywood star Wesley Snipes has been ordered by a US judge to surrender to authorities to start serving a three-year jail term for tax-related crimes.

Florida Judge William Terrell Hodges rejected a request from Snipes' lawyers to review his sentence and grant a new trial.

In April 2008, Snipes, 48, was found guilty of deliberately failing to file tax returns for 1999, 2000 and 2001.

He then launched an appeal and has been on bail ever since.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11802817

[McCamy Taylor]

1. How much jail time did Willie Nelson do?

[unblock]

9. afaik, willie filed. his accountants just failed to pay.

failing to file is actually a bigger crime than failing to pay. if you file but fail to pay, they usually want you free and working so you can pay your debt. if you fail to file at all, they usually just want you in prison, in part because they can't always tell what you owe without your return.

[liberalmike27]

18. I just don't get this

You get millions a movie, you'd still be filthy rich, yet you screw up your life by doing something of this nature??

It makes no sense. Why can't they focus on what they've got left, go out and drive through Detroit, or a bad neighborhood in any city. Then examine what they do, memorize words off a page, and read them in front of a camera with a bit of emphasis, and compare it to working on drains or at a counter, or in a grocer, then be thankful you've got enough to buy a football team.

But no, you figure out a way to defy all odds, and end up in jail. Way to go, you are a special kind of moron Snipes.

[unblock]

26. intelligence and ethics are not requirements for getting rich

indeed, both can be a impediments to getting rich!

[maritzasolito]

30. Maradona is not Italian, he is Argentino.

[Blue_Tires]

28. Soccer star Diego Maradona owed like $40 million in back taxes in Italy

[molly77]

39. liberalmike27

It would be nice to hear from Wesley Snipes . He had his reasons. There are people who do not make much money just so they don't support the military industrial complex. Blood on the hands/soul thingy.

[bluedigger]

27. I disagree.

I have not filed quite a few years, but as a wage slave all my taxes were withheld and paid. I have also held and had renewed security clearances with DHS since then. As long as they don't think you owe them anything there are no repercussions, at least in my personal experience.

[eShirl]

2. If only he'd been a Republican.

[herbm]

4. Willie's a Republican?

[timo]

3. so obvious

rangel and geitner?? if your on top the rules dont apply!!

[txlibdem]

6. Two levels of "American People"

The privileged few, the rich and "the rest of us."

Obviously Spike must not be included in the Republican definition of "American People", aka the super rich (and probably super white?).

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

12. Who's Spike? nt

[timo]

19. spike?

snipes is still out on bail....a regular peon would already be in the pokey getting poked!!!

[dipsydoodle]

5. Shame that

I thought he'd got banged up when sentenced but obviously not so.

[fascisthunter]

7. good... jerk

[rtassi]

8. Has any reason been stated as to why he did not file?

Was he attempting to make some sort of statement, evoke a precedent ... or did he and his accountant just forget?

[COLGATE4]

10. My understanding is that he bought hook, line and sinker into one

of these "you don't have to pay taxes" schemes, whereby you declare yourself 'a citizen of the Planet Uranus' or something equally stupid, or swear that 'the Congress never ratified the 16th Amendment, therefore income tax is illegal", etc. etc. You'd be amazed how many people actually believe (and pay for) this crap. And then, ultimately, the IRS comes knocking and then...

[Ruperto31]

21. Yes, the "constitutionalist" tax evaders always end up in prison.

The judge doesn't want to get into the arguments. All he knows is that you gotta pay your taxes.

[DebJ]

31. Heard of that. The father of one of my daughter's high

school friends did that. Ultimately, they lost absolutely everything: car, home, you name it. They moved into a rental place, and then he went into the bathroom and shot himself, leaving his family to find him and clean up. That's even more self-centered than wanting to use government services without paying anything.

[melm00se]

41. Snipes used

one the "frivolous" (as defined by the IRS) defenses for not paying taxes

http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=159932,00.html

Among the defenses Snipes used were:

In one 600-page document, Mr. Snipes said he was legally a “nontaxpayer” and the tax laws did not apply to him because he was not a resident of the District of Columbia (melm00e: argument C3 from above link), was not a federal official (melm00e: argument C4 from above link) and was not engaged in any trade or business, all common tax denier arguments.

Mr. Snipes also complained that the I.R.S. violated his 14th Amendment rights to equal protection because it would not help him establish what he said was his rightful status as a legal nontaxpayer.

(NYT 2/1/2008)

none of these, obviously, worked and he paid the price: 3 (misdemeanor) convictions and 3 years in the klink. Fortunately, for him, he avoided the much more serious felony conviction (something some of this tax "advisors" caught).

shut up wesley and do your time...you are only delaying the inevitable.

[dballance]

11. I Find It Interesting That White Celebrities Get Rehab/House Arrest

and celebrities from a minority group tend to get jail time. For chrissakes, Robert Downey Jr. got more breaks and gimme's than any non-celebrity ever got. If I'd done what Downey has done I'd be in a federal lockup for life. Yet he was allowed to take breaks from jail to go film scenes. Good thing for him he's a pretty white boy with showbiz connections.

So why must Snipes go to jail for 3 years when it really serves no purpose or deterrent? Make him pay the taxes and interest. If he doesn't then seize his assets. Jail is such a stupid "remedy" for a financial crime.

[Starckers]

14. Heck

One gets to be Secretary of the Treasury.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. What did Downey do that would put him in Federal lockup for

life? Snort some coke? Life? For what?

[Jennicut]

24. Drugs vs evading taxes. Putting someone in jail for doing drugs does nothing for them.

Life for coke, LOL.

[Bette Noir]

20. Martha Stewart?

Rich: check.

White: check.

Republican: nope. Go to jail.

[RZM]

23. I'm not so sure about that

I don't know the full history of Robert Downey Jr.'s antics . . . But from what I remember they mostly include drug possession and non-violent offenses like passing out in people's houses. That kind of stuff might get you and I some time, but certainly not life in a federal facility.

You can certainly make the argument that prison is a stupid remedy for financial crimes, but then you'd have to admit it's a stupid remedy for a lot of other crimes as well.

[jancantor]

37. I don't buy the race crap either in this case. It's a CLASS and money thing

fwiw, they even put Paris Hilton in jail (granted, they let her out earlier). She was just traffic crap iirc. Downey's offenses were purely possession stuff. I can't speak for California, but where I live, you have to WORK to get any serious time for personal possession offenses. And Downey did spend some time.

As Chris Rock points out (before OJ's last trial for robboery), if OJ wasn't rich, he would be "Orenthal Simpson the murderer". ipes

Snipes did what the feds HATE, which is he thumbed his nose at their power. They HATE that. By making an example of him, they deter a lot of people from trying that "I don't have to pay taxes" crap.

[Kole_Koiott]

42. Didn't...

Didn't Downey spend like a year in Corcoran prison, iirc.

[KamaAina]

40. Jail is such a stupid "remedy" for a financial crime.

So why must Snipes Bernie Madoff go to jail for 3 years when it really serves no purpose or deterrent? Make him pay the taxes and interest. If he doesn't then seize his assets.

Actually, in Snipes' case, I'd be for seizing his assets -- but there are financial crimes worthy of hard time.

[sarcasmo]

13. Guess it will be awhile for another Blade movie.

[barbtries]

15. three years?

that seems terribly excessive considering how many scofflaws are running around free. three years in jail. i can't fathom that being a fair sentence for failing to file income tax returns. the woman who killed my daughter got four years. this seems wrong. does he have an appeal yet? if he filed and paid would they still make him go to jail for three years?

didn't i read somewhere that exxon paid zero in taxes? but they have the lawyers and all the loopholes and all. this boggles my mind as my mother would say.

[spicegal]

17. If he'd only worked on Wall Street.

Isn't it rather striking that not one of the crooks who helped implode the global economy has suffered any consequences or been held accountable? Not only have they gotten off scott free, they've gotten off even richer. Where's the justice in this country?

[Kali]

36. this!

my reply too

[Flagrante]

22. Mehserle murders a black man; 2 years: Snipes owes Govt $; 3 years

The system is broken.

[Demoiselle]

25. We have a neighbor who failed to file for 5 years.

Owed a whole lotta money. Got three months in jail.

[L0oniX]

29. Only little people pay taxes.

:sarcasm:

[totodeinhere]

32. He should have done what most other millionaires do.

He could have hired a good tax accountant who would have found him enough loopholes so he wouldn't have to pay any taxes even after he files a return. Of course, most of us don't have the resources to do that, but he did.

[thunder rising]

33. 3 misdemeanor charges of failing to file. Judge is an Repug racist asshole.

The sentence is out of line with 99.999% of other sentences. It's a fucking first offense misdemeanor.

Judge said something like "You threaten my freedom when you fail to file."

This isn't about paying taxes, it's about assimilation.

[MilesColtrane]

34. Advice for Wesley:

Always bet on (H & R) Block.

[sakabatou]

35. No new Bowflex for Snipes for Christmas...

[StarsInHerHair]

38. how much time did the CEOs get for their corp. not paying

taxes? ................oh wait................