Print
Apr 24, 2008 4:42 pm US/Eastern
Wesley Snipes Faces Sentencing For Tax Charges
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
-
-
Actor Wesley Snipes arrives at the MGM premiere of "The Great Debaters" held at the Arclight Cinerama Dome on Dec. 11, 2007 in Los Angeles.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Wesley
Snipes' attorneys were still arguing for a limited sentence Thursday, hours
after the actor's sentencing hearing began on federal tax charges that could
land him fines and prison time.
The
sentencing in a central Florida
court lasted the entire morning without a decision. A jury found the forty
five-year-old actor guilty in February of willfully failing to file taxes for
three years, in which the government said he owed $2.7 million.But Snipes'
attorneys said in court his tax liability was only $228,000. Even if U.S.
District Judge William Terrell Hodges accepts their argument, sentencing
enhancements put Snipes within range of the three-year prison term prosecutors
want.Snipes was
acquitted of three identical misdemeanors and two felony charges of tax fraud
and conspiracy.
The actor's
attorneys said the government's sentencing guidelines aren't fair for tax
convictions like his. They want him let off with no prison and no fine.
Snipes'
co-defendants, who were convicted on the felony fraud and conspiracy charges,
will also be sentenced. Eddie Ray Kahn faces up to 10 years behind bars, while
Douglas P. Rosile could be jailed five to six years.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
