Posted on 04/28/2008 9:29:20 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Wesley Snipes had only been convicted of misdemeanors concerning his failure to file income tax returns.
And the action movie star had submitted written character testimonials from Denzel Washington, Woody Harrelson, and television's Judge Joe Brown to assist him in the judge’s consideration of his sentencing.
Through his attorneys, Snipes asked for probation rather than prison, which is the normal sentence with a conviction of someone without a criminal history. Still, in spite of it all, U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges sentenced Snipes to three years in prison.
Why did this happen?
Well, in February 2008, a federal jury acquitted Snipes of felony tax fraud and conspiracy (which could have placed him in the slammer for more than a decade) but convicted the actor on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return.
Snipes’ two co-defendants, a defrocked accountant and a tax protest leader, were convicted on the felony counts and may go to jail for 10 years.
Because Snipes is a celebrity, his case has received an enormous amount of publicity. In defense of his actions, he essentially asserted tax protest arguments that have consistently been brushed aside by the courts.
Unfortunately, unscrupulous people sell books, tapes and the like, which end up convincing some people that they don’t have to pay income tax.
Snipes claimed that the tax code did not mandate payment of income taxes by citizens who earned the money in this country. He additionally claimed that the IRS is not a legitimate government entity and therefore had no legal authority to collect taxes.
Jurors found that the actor failed to file for three years.
In the sentencing memo filed by his lawyer, Snipes also asserted that he didn’t have to file returns because he “was a 'stateless person' or 'nonresident alien.'”
The prosecutors’ sentencing memo stated that Snipes' policy was “to send checks received at his business office for deposit offshore.”
In addition, the memo stated that the actor paid approximately “$498,000 in personal payments to Snipes' grandmother, his former wife, his then-fiancee, his personal lawyer, a tax defier organization, and M&S Finance, the Swiss alter-ego to which he fraudulently conveyed his business holdings in 1999,” and that the amount of unreported gross income for the three-year period was “$13 million.”
Snipes exhibited a “history of contempt over a period of time” for U.S. tax laws, the judge said.
You can bet Judge Hodges knew full well that lots of people who maintain similar beliefs to Snipes and his co-defendants were watching the case and would be encouraged not to file and not to pay if Snipes hadn’t been given the max.
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James Hirsen is a media analyst, Trinity Law School professor, and teacher of mass media law at Biola University.
While I applaud the maximum sentence he received, he deserved a lot more. As much as I hate paying income tax, it is something we all must do. If we want to change the laws to get rid of the income tax, we can work within the system to do it. Until then, we have to obey the law.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Putting anyone in jail for tax evasion, felony or not, for life IS criminal.
He took a gamble and lost.
That article really did not say why.
The tax code is a joke and Snipes should be appauded for standing up to it.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Yeah your one of the sheep. The income is not going away with your kind of thinking. the Income tax is slavery. If the founders thought like you America would have never come into being. Its time for people to resist the income tax and if needed be willing to go to prison or die fighting it. You think the government in league with the banks are just going to give up the income tax? Your dreaming.
A big sheeps bleat Baaaaaaaaah for you.
Every time you sign a return you are being forced to give up your 5th amendment rights. How is that even legal???
Wesley will be happy you volunteered to do his time.
Uuuuhhh....Snipes is liberal Hollywood elitist celebrity who has no idea why he is liberal. He’s clueless and just went along because his Hollywood crowd were all liberal too.
Now he experienced the power of the STATE that he unleashed. Wesley: They’ll taze you bro!
You gave money to leftists who raised the taxes that you tried to avoid...you reap what you sow.
Because Wesley's really not "special" after all, the way he (plainly) believed himself to be.
And watch out then the government liar class talks about a “tax cut”.
The latest Bush “tax cut” has cost me at least $35,000 over the last two years, and I am NOT a high income taxpayer.
Nevertheless, even though this BS “tax cut” was enacted and applied retroactively, and even though it is illogical and rapacious, guess what?
I paid it.
Yes indeedy, let’s send him to prison for life so the taxpayers can support him, the no good...,...wait...
That's just not true...if you make under a certain amount, you do not even have to file.
Blade couldn’t beat the real bloodsuckers.
Despite my screenname, I have never evaded taxes. But no one should be sentenced to prison for tax evasion. If convicted in a court of law, seizure of assets - enough to cover the amount of tax owed - should suffice.
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