OCALA, FL — Wesley Snipes was 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. The government took that money and more. Also 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 Central Florida courthouse. “Rich, poor, it doesn’t matter. We all pay our taxes.”
Snipes was convicted of three counts of willfully failing to file returns. His trial was also considered by some as a proof of victory for the tax protest movement. He was acquitted of five other charges, which include felony tax fraud and conspiracy. This would’ve exposed him to 13 more years in prison.
Snipes’ attorneys argued that the sentence was too stiff for a first-time offender convicted of three misdemeanors. Recommending, he be given home detention and ordered to make public service announcements.
However, 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 and other films hasn’t filed any tax returns since 1998, the government alleged. Snipes and the IRS must still 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, he never mentioned the word “taxes”. He called himself 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 was forced to halt the proceedings twice to quiet the crowd, also 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 acquitted. Kahn, who refused to defend himself in court, was sentenced to the maximum 10 years, while Rosile received 4 and half 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 yearlong 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.
