Snipes
« Previous EntriesSnipes gets a big break
Friday, May 23rd, 2008The judge has ruled that Snipes can remain out on bail pending appeal, and the appellate process can take years to complete.
What the judge said:
Obviously, having denied the Defendants’ motions asserting the issues he intends to raise on appeal, the Court is dubious as to the “substantiality” of those issues for purposes of appellate review. Nevertheless, [...]
Snipes’ prison date: June 3rd
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008My apologies for not posting more regularly, but I’ve been busy on my other blog (Bombs, Taxes, and Red Crayons) covering two tax denier related trials.
After sentencing on April 24th, Snipes’ lawyers (not the ones who handled his trial — Snipes fired them a few weeks ago) filed a motion stating that they intended to appeal his conviction.
Since then, [...]
Wesley Snipes sentenced to 36 months in prison
Thursday, April 24th, 2008Wesley Snipes was sentenced late this afternoon, following an all-day hearing, to 36 months in federal prison.
Eddie Ray Kahn received 120 months, and Douglas Rosile was sentenced to 54 months. This will be Kahn’s second stay in federal prison on tax related charges.
Tomorrow is the big day
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008In their sentencing memos, the government has asked that the judge give the three defendants some fairly stiff sentences (click on their names to read the applicable filing by the prosecutors):
Wesley Snipes - 36 months in prison plus a fine of at least $5,000,000
Eddie Kahn – 120 months in prison
Douglas Rosile – 78 – 97 months in [...]
Snipes’ Sentencing Memorandum
Monday, April 14th, 2008The prosecutors submitted their sentencing memorandum today. They have asked the judge to sentence Snipes to 36 months in prison with a fine of at least $5 million, and let’s just say they didn’t mince words.
For nearly a decade, Snipes has engaged in a campaign of criminal tax conduct combining brazen defiance with insidious concealment. By these means, [...]
Was Snipes really just asking the IRS innocent questions?
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008Or does he just have a problem paying taxes?
Last week, a New Jersey newspaper reported that Snipes’ outstanding tax liens on his Alpine, NJ home in the amount of $67,108 had been sold at auction in December. If he doesn’t pay this amount off in the next two years, the new owner of the lien can foreclose [...]
Sentencing is scheduled for April 24th
Thursday, February 7th, 2008The court docket was updated this morning to reflect the new sentencing date for Kahn, Rosile, and Snipes.
NOTICE OF HEARING as to Eddie Ray Kahn, Douglas P. Rosile, Wesley Trent Snipes. Sentencing set for 4/24/2008 at 09:30AM in Courtroom 1 before Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges. Defendants Douglas P. Rosile and Wesley Trent Snipes, who are [...]
Is prison in the cards?
Monday, February 4th, 2008Simple answer, it depends on the judge.
For Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile, chances of a prison sentence are very good. They were convicted on two felony counts each, and the underlying amounts involved are so high that prison time is almost inevitable.
For Snipes, it appears that odds are pretty dang high too, unless the Judge [...]
The verdict is in
Friday, February 1st, 2008Bad day for Rosile and Kahn. Relatively good day for Snipes, considering what it could have been.
Rosile and Kahn were both convicted on two felony counts (conspiracy to defraud the government, and aiding in the filing of Snipes’ false refund return.) Snipes was convicted on three misdemeanor counts (willful failure to file tax returns) and acquitted [...]
Is Snipes a flight risk?
Thursday, January 31st, 2008The surety company backing Snipes’ bail bond has requested that the judge either put Snipes in custody or require a new bond if and when the jury finds him guilty.
“In the Surety’s view, defendant Snipes’ waiver of defenses indicates more than a lack of resolve. It can easily be inferred that the defendant has no [...]
Snipes’ December 2006 letter to the government
Thursday, January 31st, 2008Months after he was criminally indicted, Snipes sent a lengthy, and at times nasty, letter to the IRS and the federal prosecutor assigned to his case.
The entire letter – minus the 600 pages of attachments, of course – can be read here.
Sad, and ugly stuff.
The jury has now ended two full days of deliberation, and [...]
It’s all up to the jury now
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008What a day we had on Tuesday.
Court convened at 9:30 AM to give locals a little extra time to hit the polls, and the judge addressed a last minute kooky filing submitted by Eddie Kahn. The nonsense motion was , of course, denied and closing arguments began.
The prosecution team went first, and they nailed their closing [...]
The defense rests
Monday, January 28th, 2008No witnesses, no celebrities, no testimony, no evidence. Just a big, high-risk poker bluff.
By resting their case immediately, the defendants’ unspoken statement to the jury is that the government did such a weak job presenting its case that there’s no point in rebutting it - since the burden of proof is on the government.
“We could have called a bunch of Hollywood stars. [...]
What exactly is a conspiracy?
Sunday, January 27th, 2008Snipes, Kahn, and Rosile were all indicted on one count of conspiring to defraud the US Government.
From in or about 1999 through the date of this indictment, in Lake and Orange Counties, in the Middle District of Florida, and elsewhere,
WESLEY TRENT SNIPES,
EDDIE RAY KAHN,
and
DOUGLAS P. ROSILE,
The defendants herein, did knowingly, willfully, and unlawfully combine, conspire, [...]
Has Snipes been singled out?
Saturday, January 26th, 2008It’s an interesting group of people sitting in the audience during the trial. Reporters, people who didn’t make it on the jury but are curious about the case, one juror’s spouse, supporters and family members for the defendants, tax protesters, government employees, and so on. For the most part, it’s a very polite and sociable [...]
Day 9: January 25 – No two-bit actors here…
Saturday, January 26th, 2008Today was all about money. A whole lot of money. Buckets of it. Take all-of-the-money-made-by-all-16-jurors-and-multiply-by-10 kind of money.
Government Witness: Steward Stich has been an IRS Revenue Agent for 36 ½ years and his role in the trial was to present the summary of his research into how much Snipes earned in gross income from 1999 [...]
Day 8: January 24 – You have the right to remain silent. Use it.
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Threatening prosecutors is a really bad idea.
Ranting and raving (and admitting to at least one felony count) in writing to a federal prosecutor while threatening the US government is just not cool, especially after you’ve already been indicted and are awaiting your criminal trial.
At least Thursday morning wasn’t boring in the courtroom.
But first…
Government Witness: Michael [...]
Day 7: January 23: “Dear Mr. Kahn…”
Thursday, January 24th, 2008The prosecution continued questioning Special Agent Lalli for half of the day and the poor Jury was subjected to IRS form letters, Powers of Attorney forms, billing statements showing Snipes paying Kahn for his services, and hundreds of pages of incomprehensible tax protester forms and documents.
One interesting document showed 232 Kahn clients trying to obtain [...]
Day 6 – January 22: The Battle of Addresses Continues
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Outside the federal courthouse, it’s a media circus. Inside the courtroom, it’s death by a thousand paper cuts. It’s an especially painful torture, unfortunately, since the courtroom has been experiencing air conditioning problems with resulting temps in the 50s.
Government Witness: Craig Alexander, Senior VP of business and legal affairs at New Line Cinema in Los [...]
Day 5: More prosecution witnesses
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008Witness Carmen Baker: Ms. Baker worked for Starr & Associates as an administrative person handling accounts payable. She left Starr to work directly for Mr. Snipes’ Amen Ra Films Inc. Snipes doubled her salary when she came to work for him. Ms. Baker testified that Snipes’ federal income tax bill was going to exceed $2 [...]
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