Snipes has reported to jail. He began serving his sentence after a protracted court battle. He reported to a federal jail in PA on December 9 to begin serving his sentence. Snipes was convicted of neglecting to file income tax statements. He was sentenced to three years. Apparently there wasn't a paydayloans large enough to purchase off his freedom with this one.
Wesley Snipes prison term begins
Actor Wesley Snipes reported to prison today, Dec. 9, in Pennsylvania, according to ABC. His sentence is for three years in Lewis Run, Penn. This is at the McKean Federal Correctional Institution. Right next to the primary prison is the minimum security wing which is where Snipes will likely be housed as Bureau of Prisons inmate number 43355-018. The minimum security wing is typically used to house white collar inmates who pose the least risk of violence. Still, Snipes is incarcerated in a federal prison, and will likely serve at least 26 months of his 36 month sentence.
Long legal battle
Wesley Snipes fought a protracted legal battle to keep out of prison. A federal judge in FL ordered a sentence to start being served by Snipes just this year. Then Wesley Snipes appealed the sentence he was given. Tax evasion wasn't really the reason for the sentence though. The definition of tax evasion is when a person willfully tries to evade paying taxes, as Wesley Snipes and Larry King discussed. Since Wesley Snipes just didn't fail a tax return, he wasn't tax evasion though. Snipes has maintained all along that he had entrusted advisers to file for him. The firm he hired wasn't filing. They were defrauding him instead.
Latest in stars convicted on finance charges
There have been other celebrities to go to jail for white collar crimes besides Snipes. Martha Stewart served six months for insider trading related charges, and hotel magnate and heiress Leona Helmsley had been incarcerated for tax charges also. An album called "The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?" was released by Willie Nelson after he had his home sold out from under him but sold back to him because he owed the IRS so much.
Citations
ABC News
abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wesley-snipes-report-federal-prison-year-sentence/story?id=12345648&page=3
No comments:
Post a Comment