This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/7349279.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Snipes 'should serve three years' | Snipes 'should serve three years' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Film star Wesley Snipes should spend three years in prison and be fined $5m (£2.5m) over tax evasion charges, US prosecutors have said. | Film star Wesley Snipes should spend three years in prison and be fined $5m (£2.5m) over tax evasion charges, US prosecutors have said. |
| The actor was found guilty in February of failing to submit tax returns, although he was cleared of more serious charges, including fraud. | The actor was found guilty in February of failing to submit tax returns, although he was cleared of more serious charges, including fraud. |
| Prosecutors have now recommended that he faced the maximum penalty for a "brazen defiance" of US tax laws. | Prosecutors have now recommended that he faced the maximum penalty for a "brazen defiance" of US tax laws. |
| The 45-year-old star of Blade was not immediately available for comment. | The 45-year-old star of Blade was not immediately available for comment. |
| In court papers filed on Monday, US Attorney Robert O'Neill pressed for the heavy penalty because, he said, the case provided a "singular opportunity" to "deter tax crime nationwide". | |
| Snipes and two co-defendants were originally charged with six counts of failing to file tax returns, two of fraudulently claiming tax refunds and one count of conspiracy to defraud the government. | |
| 'Not deception' | |
| In court, lawyers for the film star admitted he had been "dead wrong" and should have to pay the money back. | |
| But they denied any crime had been committed, saying Mr Snipes had been open with the government about what he was doing. | |
| "Disagreement with the IRS is not fraud of the IRS, is not deception," argued defence lawyer Robert Barnes. | |
| The actor's first role was in Goldie Hawn's 1986 American football comedy Wildcats, and he later appeared in the video for Michael Jackson's Bad, which was directed by Martin Scorsese. | |
| He also appeared in hit films such as White Men Can't Jump, Passenger 57 and the Blade trilogy. |