Courts Hand Snipes A Pretty Stiff Penalty

I have to say I am not a big fan of the IRS nor Wesley Snipes but as a taxpayer who has for his entire life adhered to the US tax laws that admittedly are pretty burdensome and penalties for non compliance that can be quite draconian, I think the sentence handed to Snipes for this transgression would have been much lighter were he ....

A: not a very high profile movie star and ...

B: particularly not one of these new on the scene somewhat wacky tax deniers, mostly U.S citizens who often get bamboozled into these "anti anything government" type groups by being told and then erroneously thinking they too can supposedly get away with this form of tax protest at the present time like the purveyors of this scam contend they do.

Of coarse we all would like the IRS and US tax code to be simplified or disappear completely, but as of now it's the rule of the law across the land for all citizens starting with the president on down and that's that. Just ask Leona Helmsley, the Queen of Mean who was another big fish brought down by tax charges ...

The IRS even admits that it's easier prosecuting big fish like him than going after every Tom Dick and Harry that breaks this law.

Similarly, would he have just agreed to pay the taxes instead thinking that a movie star like himself could get away with it, I'm sure he would have avoided this hefty price of a lost year and a half of his cushy life he's now going to pay.

His expensive federal prison cell certainly could be much better utilized I'm sure by a more dangerous career type criminal, but when you spit in the wind or at the government's toughest arm known as the IRS, you'll get wet, and he sure is learning that lesson the hard way.

He was by the way acquitted of some other charges within the same prosecution a while back, and seemingly thought he was mostly off the hook judging from this NY Slimes article and the picture below of him leaving the courthouse back in February:

Wesley Snipes given three years for tax evasion -

Times Online: "Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years imprisonment last night for his “brazen defiance” of the US taxman.

The 45-year-old Hollywood actor, who has starred in films including Blade, White Men Can’t Jump and Demolition Man, was given the maximum sentence possible after prosecutors described him to a court in Ocala, Florida, as a “truly notorious offender.” He did not have to go to prison immediately but must surrender to custody at a later date.

Snipes sat expressionless as the sentence was handed down. Asked if he had any reaction, he spread his arms and shrugged. One of his lawyers, Carmen Hernandez, complained: “Mr Snipes was sentenced because he’s Mr Snipes.”"

The decision by US District Court judge William Terrell Hodges came two months after a jury convicted Snipes on three counts of willfully failing to file federal tax returns from 1999 to 2001.

Related Links

• Wesley Snipes faces tax evasion charge

• Snipes surrenders to police over $12 million tax fraud

• Snipes is hunted for tax fraud

The court heard yesterday that Snipes dodged $15 million (£7.5 million) in tax through a campaign in which he concealed millions offshore, falsely applied for tax refunds and bombarded the Internal Revenue Service with frivolous correspondence that threatened government employees, railed about extortion and used twisted legal interpretations to back his claim that taxation was unlawful. continued

The nutty notes and letters sure didn't help his cause and seem to be what most of the tax denier movement is comprised and consists of, mostly the fringe nut element who are out looking for anything they can to get away with regards to breaking laws concerning taxes, marijuana legislation and the likes.

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