Wesley SnipesOCALA, Florida (Reuters) - Actor Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday for failing to file his federal income tax returns.
The sentenced was the maximum under the law, which U.S. prosecutors had recommended for the star of the "Blade" movie series. He was found guilty in February of failing to file tax returns for 1999-2001.
Snipes was acquitted on two felony charges of filing false claims and fraud in seeking millions of dollars of refunds in other tax years.
But prosecutors had urged the court to impose a stiff penalty on the actor nonetheless, because of his notoriety and the potential of a high-profile case to deter tax crime nationwide.
Snipes' lawyers, in calling for leniency, had contended that he was convicted only of three misdemeanors and said the government's tax loss in his case amounted to less than
$400,000.
(Reporting by Barbara Liston; editing by Jane Sutton and Mohammad Zargham)
OMG. I'm going to bring up a hot topic here: there are so many celebs and wealthy people, who are guilty of the same thing, most of whom are white. Is making an example here out of a black actor a racist act??