Proscutors got what they wanted: In Ocala, Florida on Thursday, US District Judge William Terrell Hodges sentenced actor Wesley Snipes to three years in prison. Snipes was convicted February 1 on three misdemeanor counts of failure to file federal income tax returns for 1999-2001 but acquitted on two felony tax counts and three more failure to file misdemeanor counts. Hodges sentenced Snipes to the maximum of one year on each count, to be served consecutively. He said “these are serious crimes, albeit misdemeanors, because he has a history of contempt over time.” Hodges also sentenced Snipes’ co-defendants Douglas Rosile and Eddie Ray Kahn, both convicted on the felony counts. Rosile was sentenced to 4 years and six months in prison and Kahn was sentenced to ten years in prison. Judge Hodges was obviously not swayed by a large number of celebrities asking him to sentence Snipes to probation. Among them were Woody Harrelson, Judge Joe Brown and Judge Greg Mathis. It’s hard to believe any federal judge would be influenced by requests from the son of Charles Harrison and two TV show judges. Bloomberg, Orlando Sentinel, DOJ (via PR Newswire).
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Prosecutors on Monday filed a sentencing memorandum which recommends that actor Wesley Snipes be sentenced to three years in prison and fined $5 million. Snipes was convicted February 1 on three misdemeanor counts of failure to file federal income tax returns for 1999-2001; however, he was acquitted on the two felony counts he faced andon three misdemeanor failure to file counts for 2002-2004. In calling for the maximum sentence and an upward departure from the guidelines for the fine, the government appears to be seeking enhancements for the acquitted charges. Snipes is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24 (Reuters, Snipes sentencing memorandum).
A three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Tuesday heard arguments in the government’s attempt to reinstate the indictments of 13 former KPMG LLC executives in what was once the largest criminal tax shelter prosecution in US history. In July 2007 US District Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed the indictments of 13 out of an original 19 defendants in US v. Stein et al because the government threatened to indict KPMG if the company did not stop paying the defendants’ legal costs despite contractual obligations to do so. The Bloomberg News story indicates that the judges were highly critical of the government’s arguments. While AUSA Karl Metzner contended that a fair trial was still possible and that dismissal of the indictments was “too drastic a sanction” despite Kaplan’s ruling that the government’s actions violated the defendants’ rights, Chief Circuit Judge Dennis Jacobs noted that “time has moved forward” and Judge Peter Hall likened a reinstatement to “putting toothpaste back in the tube”.
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.
Jurors in the federal tax fraud trial of actor Wesley Snipes and two co-defendants (earlier) completed a second full day of deliberations on Thursday without reaching a verdict. Jurors asked US District Judge William Terrell Hodges to clarify the meaning of the word conspiracy; in response, Hodges referred them again to the jury instructions. Also on Thursday, the insurance company responsible for Snipes’ $1 million bond moved to be released from its obligation if Snipes is convicted, claiming that Snipes does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction and is likely to flee. Judge Hodges denied the motion on procedural grounds. Rick Cundiff’s Ocala Star-Banner story is here.
After the prosecution rested on Friday in the federal tax fraud trial of actor Wesley Snipes and two co-defendants (earlier), Snipes’ lead attorney Robert Bernhoft promised a parade of celebrity witnesses and hinted that Snipes would take the stand in his own defense. But on Monday the defense rested without calling a single witness, asserting that the government had failed to meet its burden of proof. Bernhoft moved for a directed verdict of not guilty, which US District Judge William Terrell Hodges denied. Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday morning. AP/Yahoo here, Ocala Star-Banner here.
Jury selection began Monday in Ocala, Florida in the tax fraud trial of actor Wesley Snipes and two co-defendants, known tax protesters Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas P. Rosile. Snipes is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud in connection with an attempt to collect $11.7 million in refunds for 1996 and 1997 and one count of making a fraudulent claim of payment for allegedly offering $13 million in fake checks in payment of taxes for those years. In addition, he faces six counts of failure to file tax returns for 1999 through 2004. The AP story is here.