Wesley Snipes Tax Evasion

[Iconoclast]

Jury acquits Wesley Snipes of tax fraud

y TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer  1 hour, 2 minutes ago

OCALA, Fla. - Action star Wesley Snipes was found not guilty of federal tax-fraud and conspiracy charges Friday, but was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return.
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Snipes and two co-defendants, a delicensed accountant and a tax protest leader, were indicted in 2006. Snipes was also indicted on six counts of willful failure to file a tax return from 1999-2004, a period in which he signed two contracts for more than $10 million on sequels in the "Blade" trilogy. He was acquitted on three of those and convicted on the others. He could be sentenced to three years in prison after originally facing a possible 16 years.

You can scope the article in its entirity here.

[NonEntity]

Is the tide ("public" opinion) starting to turn?

- NonE

[Darren Dirt]

NonEntity Wrote:Is the tide ("public" opinion) starting to turn?

- NonE

NOPE.

Notice he was not convicted of "X1" but he was convicted of "X2, X3, and X4" -- where "X" is a victimless crime, no witness required, no c.d. etc. etc.

Not Guilty: FRAUD and CONSPIRACY.
Guilty: FAILURE TO FILE.

:sigh:


PS: Google News link (since Yahoo kills their news URLs within days -- always wondered why they do that... Built-in Memory Hole, in a way, I guess...)


Notice this is truly a "speedy trial" -- less than one year after the indictment... Imagine if this jury was bold enough to acquit on the "WILLFUL failure to [act out a duty Mr. Snipes is not obligated to do]" -- and if it was closer to April... IMAGINE.

[NonEntity]

Hey man, I didn't say there was intelligence and rationality, I just asked if the TIDE was beginning to turn! 

I see the fact that they DIDN'T nail him for fraud and conspiracy to be significant.  After all, he's a black man.  Not only that, he's a black man that makes more money than THEY do!  And he DID fail to file, after all. 

I ain't dun read the reports yet, I'm just ranting an ravin' on general princypals. 

GO WESLEY!

- NonE

[eye2i2hear]

What I hear loud and clear...

Quote:
"Snipes' lawyers argued that he was a victim of crooked advisers, and the jury seemed to believe it. Co-defendants Eddie Ray Kahn, the founder of a tax protest group, and Douglas P. Rosile, an accountant who lost his licenses, were convicted Friday by the same panel of tax fraud and conspiracy. Both face up to 10 years in prison.
...
Snipes used bizarre arguments to justify his position, saying the IRS' own code meant income earned in this country wasn't taxable, and the agency had no legal authority because it's not a proper government entity.

Later, the actor threatened the government and individual agents in his pursuit, declaring himself a "nonresident alien" not subject to tax laws.

Prosecutors say Snipes paid taxes in the 1990s, but changed his mind after meeting Kahn in 2000. He allegedly stopped filing returns, illegally sought $11 million in 1996 and 1997 taxes paid and drew fake checks to pay the U.S. Treasury.

Kahn founded the central Florida tax protest group American Rights Litigators and its successor, Guiding Light of God Ministries. He has been using tax scams since at least the early 1980s, according to government documents, and refused to defend himself in court against these charges.

Rosile, a CPA who lost his licenses in Florida and Ohio, allegedly prepared the fraudulent documents for Snipes, along with numerous other Kahn clients.

Judge and jury have long rejected their ideas, but there were exceptions.

The IRS bears a unique burden of proof in criminal tax cases. It must show not only that someone broke the law, but he or she did so with willful, bad purpose to defraud the government.

A few defendants have won acquittal because the jury thought they sincerely believed they did not have to pay."

Snipes had faced up to 16 years in prison if convicted on all charges, but can now only get up to three years.

---excerpted from Travis Reed's Associated Press article

Silly "crooked advisers".  He was "a victim"!!!
See?!  After a good spanking, he's back to believing = behaving like the rest of u.s.  You know, "normal".  [hand over heart here]

[Plume]

i need to be trained on how to revel in these types of victories/losses (cognitive dissonance).
I'm lost and i don't know which flag to wave. both???  white and u.s.? u surrender i submit? where are the hair clippers? i'm cutting my dreads off. this is bi-polarizing me. Britney!!! Britneeeey!

[NonEntity]

New word:  Bizarguments  Noun.  Definitions:  1) Laws,  2) Legal reasoning,  3)...



- NonE

[Plume]

presto!    ;D    good ass word NonE

[eye2i2hear]

NonEntity Wrote:New word:  Bizarguments  Noun.  Definitions:  1) Laws,  2) Legal reasoning,  3)...

3) Opinions,  4) Once Upon A Time...

bizarguments... is that like in big bizness/money rackets/monkey business/incorporation, too?
(or just bizarre?)

and doG, the [url=http://www.udidn'treallythinkthiswuzalinkdidya?.com[/url]NonE Online Dictionaucontrair`e.arg just keeps expanding!!

--submitzen2

[eye2i2hear]

speaking of bizarguments:

Quote:
"Nobody likes paying taxes, but paying taxes is the price we pay to live in a civilized society," said prosecutor M Scotland Morris.


"And it's the law, and that's what this case is about. It's about three men who felt they were above the law," he argued.

--BBC.co.uk as quoted here

bizarguments
synonyms:  law = legal = argument = opinion = a gun

[NonEntity]

Quote:"Nobody likes paying taxes, but paying taxes is the price we pay to live in a civilized society," said prosecutor M Scotland Morris.

Rape is the price we pay for having consentual sex.  Sinners!

- NonE