Wesley Snipes has been ordered by a judge to start serving his sentence for tax evasion. Snipes was convicted in 2008 of tax evasion. But he was free on bond while his attorneys appealed for a new trial. The motion for a new trial was denied, and Snipes was ordered to start serving his three-year sentence.

Wesley Snipes Ordered to Prison for Tax Evasion.

Actor Wesley Snipes has been ordered by a Florida judge to start serving his sentence for income tax evasion, according to the Los Angeles Times. Snipes was not present at the hearing, but the presiding justice, Judge William Terrell Hodges, concluded that the request was not fair. The judge determined that Snipes had received a fair trial and a fair sentence for tax evasion. Snipes was cleared of charges of conspiracy, maintaining that he was misled. He was, however, found guilty of three misdemeanor counts of tax evasion, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail. The star of the “Blade” series was given the maximum sentence possible because of the sheer amount of money involved, which amounted to more than $1 million. Between 2001 and 2010, Wesley Snipes earned more than $38 million.

No Fault of Wesley’s

Snipes was allegedly the victim of bad financial advising as well as a Ponzi scheme by one Kenneth I. Starr, though not the same Kenneth Starr who investigated Bill Clinton. Snipes has maintained all along that he did not conspire to evade taxes. But he had been told by his former financial advisers Eddie Kahn and Douglas Rosile that he would not have to pay any income taxes. He also had invested money with Ken Starr, with Martin Scorsese and Sylvester Stallone. Unfortunately, Starr had been running a Ponzi scheme. Snipes’s attorneys had been alleging juror bias, according to Fox News, but to no avail.

Source: Los Angeles Times