Prosecutors Want Prison, Fines for Snipes

Prosecutors want three years, hefty fines for "criminal tax scofflaw" Snipes.

ByABC News
April 15, 2008, 1:32 PM

April 15, 2008— -- Federal prosecutors today filed documents arguing that actor Wesley Snipes, convicted earlier this year on charges that he failed to file several years' worth of income tax returns, should head to prison and pay at least $5 million in fines.

In a sentencing memorandum filed at a federal court in Florida -- on the April 15 tax return filing deadline -- the U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge to sentence the "Blade" actor to three years in prison and pay $5 million in fines.

"The sentence for the criminal tax scofflaw must be commensurate with the gravity of the offense, and should act as a deterrent to other potential violators," federal prosecutors wrote.

In February, a federal jury convicted Snipes on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return. Jurors acquitted Snipes of felony tax fraud and conspiracy charges that carry more significant punishment upon conviction.

Had he been found guilty of all charges filed against him, Snipes could have faced up to 16 years of prison time.

Prosecutors on the case claimed that Snipes did not file his tax returns from 1999 through 2004 , and jurors concluded that he failed to file for 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Snipes withheld tax returns based on his belief that the Internal Revenue Service is not a properly established government agency. According to the memo filed today, Snipes also contended that he did not file business returns because he "was personally not subject to taxation because he was a 'stateless person' or 'nonresident alien,'" or a "'nontaxpayer,'" which prosecutors flatly rejected.

In the sentencing memorandum, prosecutors cited Snipes' "frivolous correspondence" with the IRS in regards to his tax returns and his alleged manner of hiding assets.

The memo states, "It was Snipes' policy to send checks received at his business office for deposit offshore."

The court document added that the "amount of unreported gross income proved at trial" amounted to more than $13 million during the three-year period.