Culture

Wesley Snipes Acquitted of Tax Fraud

by Jarrett Martineau | February 1, 2008 at 02:27 pm

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"Always bet on black! Yeah, baby!" Wesley Snipes has won his roulette game of evading persecution for tax-fraud.

Snipes was acquitted today of the fraud and conspiracy cahrges, but will still need to fork over and file taxes for his multi-million dollar earnings between 1999 and 2004.

A jury in Florida has acquitted actor Wesley Snipes of federal tax-fraud and conspiracy charges, but convicted him of failing to file tax returns.
Snipes could now be sentenced to as much as three years in prison. He originally faced a possible 16 years.

Snipes and two co-defendants -- a former accountant and a tax protest leader -- were indicted in 2006. His co-defendants were convicted by the same jury of tax fraud and conspiracy.

The actor also faced six other charges for failing to file tax returns from 1999 to 2004.

The Internal Revenue Service alleges that Wesley Snipes, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas P. Rosile engaged them in a long fight insisting Snipes didn't owe any taxes.

Snipes' lawyers say the action star was a victim of bad financial advice, and truly believed he didn't have to pay the government anything...Prosecutors argue Snipes was trying to avoid increasing tax bills from his rising star power.