Wesley Snipes sentenced to 3 years for tax convictions

According to reports Hollywood Action Star Wesley Snipes has been sentenced to 3 years for his tax conviction from last February. This was the maximum sentence which the federal judge passed out, one that the prosecutors had requested. This was one year for each of the convictions for failing to file his tax returns.

Wesley Snipes lawyers tried their best to prevent the star from going to jail, with letters being offered in court from friends and actors such as Denzel Washington and Woody Harrelson which said that how good of a person he was and that he should just get probation. The Hollywood actors also said that he should only get the probation as the three convictions were only misdemeanors.

However U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges was having none of it and stated that “Snipes exhibited a “history of contempt over a period of time for U.S. tax laws.” He then added “In my mind these are serious crimes, albeit misdemeanors”.

Snipes was reading a statement out in court where he apologized for his costly mistakes. He stated “I am an idealistic, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritually motivated artist, unschooled in the science of law and finance.”

Wesley Snipes is the highest profile criminal for tax charges and out of the 3 years sentence; it is thought that Snipes will only serve one year of supervised release.

Source – IHT