WESLEY SNIPES Sentenced 3 years in prison for TAX evasion

Wesley Snipes Loses Appeal: Wesley Snipes will serve jail time for tax evasion. The actor lost an appeal that would have overturned an earlier sentence, and will instead be forced to spend time in prison. In 2008, The “Blade” actor was sentenced to three years in jail after he “willfully” failed to file taxes for six years. Snipes was convicted for failing to file tax returns in 1999, 2000, and 2001. He made more than $37 million between 1999 and 2004, partially due to his starring role in the highly-successful Blade trilogy. The court said that he did not file federal income tax returns for any those years.

The 47-year-old Money Train actor has been on bail since 2008, and called the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta's denial of his appeal “unreasonable,” reported BBC. The more serious charges of conspiracy and fraud were cleared.

Snipes' lawyers argued that he should have had a hearing as to where his trial should be held and claimed that having his trial held in Ocala, Fla. was a “discriminatory” move. Snipes and his team of lawyers said that the trial should be held in New York, where the actor was born. Snipes appealed the decision, claiming that his sentence was “unreasonable.” Attorneys for the star also argued that he was denied a hearing to determine whether his trial should have been conducted in New York rather than Florida (where it wound up).