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Eleventh Circuit affirms convictions and 3-year prison sentence of Wesley Snipes for tax crimes

By Douglas A. Berman

A busy week for notable federal circuit court rulings in criminal cases concludes with a major league Eleventh Circuit ruling affirming the convictions and sentence of Passenger 57 for tax crimes.  The unanimous panel decision in US v. Snipes gets started this way: Defendant Wesley Trent Snipes appeals from his criminal convictions, after a jury trial, on three counts of willful failure to file individual federal income tax returns for calendar years 1999, 2000, and 2001, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7203. Snipes alleges that the trial court committed reversible error in sentencing, jury instructions, and on issues of venue.  After thorough review, we affirm the rulings and judgment of the district court in all respects. The final 10 pages of the 35-page opinion in Snipes discusses various sentencing issues surrounding Snipes efforts to avoid the tax collectors on the money train...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 16, 2010 (boomark / email).