Wesley Snipes, an actor known for movies such as Blade, White Men Can’t Jump, and some others that no one really remembers, was sentenced for three years in prison for his “brazen defiance” of tax laws. He was given the maximum possible sentence for “willfully failing to file federal tax returns from 1999 to 2001.” He wasn’t just not filing taxes though, he apparently concealed millions in offshore accounts, falsely applied for tax refunds, and sent frivolous letters to the IRS on his way to avoiding paying $15 million in taxes! Now that’s how tax evasion should be done.

The prosecutors in charge of sending Wesley Snipes to prison had few kind words for the movie star:

“For nearly a decade, Snipes has engaged in a campaign of criminal tax conduct combining brazen defiance with insidious concealment,” the prosecuting attorney, Robert O’Neill, told the court in a sentencing memorandum. “In the defendant Wesley Snipes, the court is presented with a wealthy, famous and inveterate tax scofflaw. If ever a tax offender was deserving of being held accountable to the maximum extent for his criminal wrongdoing, Snipes is that defendant.”

Judge William Terrell Hodges gave Snipes the maximum sentence in spite of Snipes efforts to use his celebrity to his advantage. At one point Snipes’s lawyers brought in checks totaling $5 million, but the judge and prosecutor both couldn’t accept them. The IRS took them when the court was in recess. 31 character witnesses, including Denzel Washington and Woody Harrelson defended Snipes, but it wasn’t enough. 3 years for $15 million? I would do it.

[Source]

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