Snipes Acquitted On Felony Charges, Co-Defendants Convicted

Actor Wesley Snipes on Friday was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failure to file federal income tax returns for 1999-2001 but was acquitted on the two felony counts he faced– one count of conspiracy to defraud and one count of making a fraudulent claim of payment — and three misdemeanor failure to file counts for 2002-2004. His co-defendants Douglas Rosile and Eddie Ray Kahn faced the same felony counts as Snipes; both were found guilty. US District Judge William Terrell Hodges ordered a pre-sentencing investigation and lowered Snipes’ bail from $1 million to $250,000. Snipes could receive up to one year in prison for each of the three misdemeanor counts and he faces a $17 million back tax bill; Rosile and Kahn each face up to 16 years in prison. The Ocala Star-Banner story is here.