Wesley Snipes has been given permission to leave the US even though he’s set to start a jail term in the near future.

Wesley was sentenced to three years in jail after being found guilty of tax offences earlier this year but is currently free on appeal. Last month the US Attorney’s Office filed a motion to have Wesley’s jail time start before the appeal is finalised but now Florida federal judge William Terrell Hodges has given permission for Wesley to leave the country instead.

Wesley’s lawyer argued that the money he’ll earn from his three days in London, to finish work on Gallowwalker and eight weeks in Bangkok, Thailand filming Chasing the Dragon will “satisfy his [outstanding] civil tax liabilities”.

The lawyer also argued that Wesley was not a flight risk because “were he to abscond under these circumstances, it would destroy his ability to earn a living for the rest of his life”.

Wesley is expected to fly to the UK later this month to begin the work.