Wesley Snipes ordered to surrender in tax case
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A federal judge ordered actor Wesley Snipes to surrender to authorities Friday so he can begin serving a three-year prison sentence for tax-related crimes. U.S. District Court Judge William Terrell Hodges in Ocala, Fla., rejected a request from the actor's attorneys to review Snipes' sentence and grant a new trial. Snipes has been free on bond for more than two years while appealing.
"The defendant Snipes had a fair trial; he has had a full, fair and thorough review of his conviction and sentence. ... The time has come for the judgment to be enforced," the judge wrote in his 16-page decision.
The 48-year-old star of the "Blade" trilogy and Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" was convicted in 2008 on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file his income tax returns. He was acquitted of two more serious felony charges.
"The defendant Snipes had a fair trial; he has had a full, fair and thorough review of his conviction and sentence. ... The time has come for the judgment to be enforced," the judge wrote in his 16-page decision.
The 48-year-old star of the "Blade" trilogy and Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" was convicted in 2008 on three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file his income tax returns. He was acquitted of two more serious felony charges.
Snipes will have plenty of time to think about his decision on not paying his taxes because today December 9, 2010 he went to prison.