Wesley Snipes sentenced to full three years jail time

Wesley Snipes has been sentenced to three years in jail for tax evasion.

In February, the Blade star was found guilty of three misdemeanor counts of failure to file his taxes over a five year period but acquitted of felony level charges of tax fraud and making false claims.

In a Florida courthouse yesterday, US District Judge William Terrell Hodges sentenced the actor to 12 months jail time for each of the three misdemeanors but ruled that Wesley did not have to surrender himself immediately but could start his prison term at a later date, closer to his New Jersey home.

Prosecutors on the case requested the maximum three year sentence to send out a message to other potential tax-evaders. A spokesperson for the US Justice Department’s Tax Division is quoted as saying: “Snipes’ long prison sentence should send a loud and crystal clear message to all tax defiers that if they engage in similar tax defier conduct, they face joining him and his co-defendants … as inmates in prison.”

Wesley is also said to owe $2.7million in unpaid taxes, of which he paid a token $5 at the sentencing. Victor Lessoff from the IRS office in Tampa, Florida told People: “The IRS will still try to collect the money. You can count on that.”

After the sentencing, Wesley apologised for the crimes, saying: “I’m very sorry for my mistakes and errors. I apologize to my family, the court and the community.”