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April 25, 2008
International News
Wesley Snipes gets 3 years for tax evasion
Actor Wesley Snipes, star of such films as Jungle Fever, New Jack City, White Men Can't Jump, and the Blade trilogy, was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison by a U.S. District Court Judge for failing to file taxes to an alleged total of $2.7 million in back taxes.
Snipes was acquitted of felony fraud and conspiracy charges in February, but the law caught up to the Blade star after the courts confirmed Snipes hadn't filed a tax return since 1998. Sources report that Judge William Terrell Hodges revealed to the court that Snipes has displayed a history of contempt with regard to his taxes and handed down the maximum penalty for the charges, as some sources report was an action taken to make an example out of the star given his evasion. In an attempt to stave of incarceration, Snipes offered the government $5 million dollars in an effort to serve time in house arrest instead of prison. Despite Snipes' attempt to make good on his taxes and testimony to his character from the likes of Denzel Washington and Woody Harrelson, the Judge determined Snipes would be sent to prison for his crime.
According to the Associated Press, Snipes admitted to the court via a written and prepared apologetic statement that he indeed made mistakes in his life, "I am an idealistic, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritually motivated artist, unschooled in the science of law and finance..."
The AP goes on to report that Snipes will still be a free man until the court notifies him of the appropriate time to surrender to authorities. However, Snipes and his lawyers have also let the court know they will be seeking an appeal.
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Snoop Dogg allowed back in England
A British judge has ruled rapper Snoop Dogg can enter Britain after the country's Home Office said his presence was non-conducive to the public good.
Snoop Dogg, whose birth name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus, may be traveling to Britain after the Home Office's ban on him was reversed by an immigration appeals judge, The Times of London reported Thursday.
According to wjbt.com Britain reportedly denied Snoop an entrance visa after he was accused, along with five members of his entourage, of initiating a fight at London's Heathrow Airport in 2006.
The accusations changed Wednesday when Judge George Warr decided the fight was precipitated by decisions made by BA staff and police. Warr supported the January ruling of immigration judge Nehar Bird, who said officials did not prove Snoop's ban from Britain would be good for the public. Warr said no proof existed that Snoop started the fight, dismissing the Home Office's appeal to Bird's January ruling, the Times reported.