Actor Wesley Snipes is headed for jail after losing his appeal of a three-year prison sentence for failing to file income tax returns for 1999 through 2001.
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the 47-year-old actor’s 2008 conviction in an Ocala, Florida, court for three misdemeanors stemming from felony tax charges.
At his sentencing in April 2008, prosecutors said Snipes, a Florida native who has a residence in Windermere, had earned more than US$38 million since 1999, but had filed no tax returns or paid any taxes.
In his appeal, the actor claimed
that the sentence was unreasonable
and he should have been considered
for probation.
The star of the Blade trilogy who most recently appeared as a former convict in Brooklyn’s Finest, also said the lower court should have allowed him to argue for a change of venue from Florida to New York.
A three-judge panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal. The ruling did not specify when or where Snipes was due to report to prison.
Also set for a spell in jail is Lindsay Lohan, whose new attorney, celebrity lawyer Robert Shapiro, said on Friday the troubled actress will go to prison as recently ordered by the judge overseeing her probation. Last week, California Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel ordered Lohan to begin serving a 90-day jail sentence tomorrow for violating the terms of her probation on drunk driving charges because Lohan had missed alcohol education classes.
Lohan has moved to a substance abuse facility and signed legal papers hiring celebrity lawyer Shapiro to represent her as she prepares to head to jail for violating probation in a 2007 drug case.
Shapiro, a key figure on O.J. Simpson’s legal “dream team” in 1995, confirmed Lohan was staying at Pickford Lofts, a treatment center Shapiro founded after his son died of a drug overdose.
He said he would help the actress get treatment to accomplish long-term recovery and sobriety.
“Lohan is suffering from a disease that I am all too familiar with,’’ said Shapiro, whose son Brent died in 2005.
“Hopefully I can be of assistance.’’
The 24-year-old actress was sentenced to 90 days in jail earlier this month after a judge determined she violated her probation by missing seven weekly alcohol education classes since December.
The judge also ordered Lohan to spend three months in rehab after serving her sentence and continue to undergo random drug testing until her probation expires.
Lohan pleaded guilty in August 2007 to two misdemeanor counts of being under the influence of cocaine; no contest to two counts of driving with a blood-alcohol level above 0.08 percent; and one count of reckless driving. She was sentenced to three years probation.
The plea came after a pair of high-profile arrests earlier that year.
Lohan has spent 84 minutes in jail and performed mandatory service at the county morgue.
Hollywood observers believe Mel Gibson’s temper may have landed him in more than just hot water amid a furor over alleged rants against his ex-girlfriend. This time it may cost his career.
The latest scandal stems from profane and rage-filled comments posted on the celebrity gossip website RadarOnline.com which were culled from audio tapes, allegedly of Gibson threatening and cursing his ex-girlfriend, Russian musician Oksana Grigorieva.
The tapes have only further tarnished the reputation of devout Catholic Gibson, already known for his scathing comments against blacks and Jews.
While the tapes have yet to be authenticated, neither Gibson nor his lawyers have issued any denial since they first surfaced a week ago.
And with horrendous details of his private life in full view — the culmination of an ugly breakup between Grigorieva, 40, and Gibson, 54, following a January beating in which he allegedly knocked out some of her teeth — agents and fellow actors were quick to turn their backs on the star.
Among the first was the William Morris Endeavor agency headed by powerful agent Ari Emanuel, who has made no secret in the past of his disdain for the Mad Max star after an alcohol-fueled anti-Semitic outburst became public in 2006.
“Stars have come back from scandals before, but the number of times Mel Gibson has been in the news for aggressive and abusive behavior, along with racist and sexist remarks, makes him a poor bet for being one of those who manage to rebuild their careers,” University of Southern California professor Leo Braudy said.
“Now that he has been dropped by his agent, and denounced by a number of fellow stars, it seems like a real uphill battle, which would make even investors who have some faith in his talent very wary.”
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