It turns out Wesley Snipe’s bad boy TV persona transfers over to the real world as well.
The actor is facing up to three years in prison as a result for avoiding taxes for five years. According to E! online, the attorneys for the star have filed an appeal against the incarceration time, claiming that the sentence is “unreasonable.” They are also arguing that the tax-evasion trial, which took place in Florida in February (finding Snipes guilty on three charges), should have taken place in New York.
Apparently, Snipes, who made an estimated $13.8 million over the past three years, owes the IRS millions of dollars. Peter Goldberger, Snipes’ attorney, said “The right to a correct venue is part and parcel to the right to a jury trial” (eonline.com). Snipe himself did not show up for the hearings, but is roaming around after paying for his $1 million bond after appealing the sentence.
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Method Man, a member of the notoriously gangster rap group Wu-Tang Clan, was arrested for a notoriously un-gangster felony: not filing his taxes.
Clifford “Method Man” Smith turned himself in to Staten Island police today on charges of failing to pay four years worth of income taxes, amounting to $32, 799. There is a hearing scheduled for this afternoon and if he does end up being convicted, he could face up to four years in jail.
This is Meth’s second brush with American taxes – his n Navigator was repossessed in 2008 by the Department of Taxation.
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Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday for tax evasion.
He was not forced to surrender immmediately, but must surrender at a later date closer to his New Jersey home.
The actor was given the maximum sentence possible after prosecutors called him a “truly notorious offender.”
“Snipes’ long prison sentence should send a loud and crystal clear message to all tax defiers that is they engage in similar tax defier conduct, they face joining him and his co-defendants … as inmates in prison,” said Nathan J. Hochman, Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Justice Department’s Tax Divison.
Snipes was convicted in February on three charges for not filing his taxes. According to reports, Snipes dodged $15 million in tax by hiding millions offshore and falsely applied for tax refunds.
Snipes has starred in Blade, White Men Can’t Jump, and Demolition Man.
