Wesley Snipes has had his day in court. As we reported here previously, Snipes was hauled into a Florida courtroom by the Internal Revenue Service and charged with six misdeamor counts based on his alleged failure to file tax returns between 1999 and 2004, and felony counts of conspiracy to defraud the government and filing false tax refund claims. In recent years, the feds have lost a few similar cases due to what experts view as a trend among disgruntled juries to side with the accused in order to tell the I.R.S. where they can shove it. If Snipes had gotten off scott-free, it would have been a singular victory for the "tax deniers'" movement and a terrible humiliation for the prosecutors. As it happened, the jury sort of split the difference, finding Snipes guilty on three of the misdemeanor counts and absolving him of responsibility for the felonies. At the same time, they found the actor's two co-defendents, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile — both of whom are connected to American Rights Litigators, a Florida-based tax protesters' outfit — guilty of felony counts similar to the ones lodged against Snipes.
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