Wesley Snipes may be sent to jail before appeal is finalised

Wesley Snipes may be forced to start his tax-offence prison sentence sooner rather than later, despite his application for appeal.

In April, Wesley was sentenced to 36 months in jail after he was found guilty of three misdemeanor counts of failure to file his taxes over a five year period - but he has remains free on bond while he appeals the sentence, arguing for leniency rather than the maximum penalty allowed.

However the US Attorney’s Office has now filed court papers to appeal against Wesley’s current freedom, with a spokesperson saying: “We want him in custody. He’s been convicted by a jury. He has been sentenced to three years and he should be in custody.”

But Wesley is still unlikely to have to surrender himself immediately: the spokesperson added that their request could take weeks, even months, to be processed.

Federal officials have estimated that Wesley owed around $17million in back taxes, fines and interest but have yet to arrive at a final figure.