Wesley Snipes Does Hard Time - What Now?

By Josh Tyler: 2008-04-25 04:25:06

A few months ago Entertainment Weekly ran an in depth piece on fallen star Wesley Snipes’ legal troubles. The government had been after him some time for tax evasion, and at the time things were looking pretty grim. Snipes remained upbeat, defiant, and seemingly unconcerned. Well maybe he should have worried, just a little. He’s headed for jail, and not Paris Hilton jail either. Wesley Snipes is doing hard time.

CNN reports that Snipes has been sentenced to three long years in prison for failing to file tax returns. Apparently celebrity only works to get you off murder charges or drunk driving convictions. The Justice Department seems to have specifically targeted him to make an example of him because of his celebrity. At least that’s how it sounds. In a statement released today the Attorney General said, “Snipes' long prison sentence should send a loud and crystal clear message to all tax defiers that if they engage in similar tax defier conduct, they face joining him.”

It’s hard to feel bad for him, the guy has long had a reputation as a head case and a bit of a trouble maker. This was a long time coming, and if there’s one thing I know it’s that you don’t fuck with Uncle Sam. They want their money. In Wesley’s shoes I’d probably have already hoofed it to France to hang out with Roman Polanski, but apparently he’s going to do the time. Let’s hope for his sake, all that bad ass karate he did in the Blade movies wasn’t just for show. He’s going to need to bust a few heads unless he wants to eat what Harold and Kumar refer in their newest prison movie as “cockmeat sandwich”. Doesn’t sound at all delicious, does it?

I’ve seen some attempting to defend him. For instance Doug Nagy over at TMB is screaming for people to start the “Free Wesley Snipes” campaign. Doug’s a Canadian, so maybe the Canadian government doesn’t take stealing the government’s money as seriously as the United States does. I don’t know. Canadians are really nice, but I don't think even they are that nice. Doug seems to think he’s being thrown in jail simply for failing to file his paperwork. No Doug, he’s being thrown in jail for failing to pay his taxes, the way every other non-famous, hard working American has to. Maybe the government is making an example of him, but they wouldn't be able to make an example of him if he hadn't chosen not to pay his taxes. This isn't a guy who simply forgot to send in a W2. Sure, Snipes blames his accountants, but that doesn't hold water for non-celebs when the government comes after them, I don't see why it should work for him. Hell, this is what they used to take down Al Capone. Maybe Snipes should consider three years in prison getting off light.

But there’s no point in dwelling on the details, it looks like Wesley’s getting locked up. That may not mean an end to his film career forever, but it means an end to anything he might do for a long time. Not that he’s had much of a career since Blade ended. In the 90s Snipes was on the verge of hitting the Hollywood A-list, since then his numerous troubles have sent him down to the D-list where he’s made direct to DVD movies no one will ever see.

IMDB says he does have at least one more movie completed and slated to hit theaters soon. It’s called Gallowalker, and in it Wesley plays a cursed gunman who fights zombies. It has no release date yet, but it’s only recently finished filming. He was however set to star in the high-profile Anton Fuqua movie Brooklyn’s Finest, with Ethan Hawke, Richard Gere, and Don Cheadle. We posted a partial script review of the film earlier last week here. Presumably Fuqua will now be forced to recast Wesley’s part… unless he wants to wait three years.

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