OCALA, Fla. - The jury in the tax fraud trial of action star Wesley Snipes has reached a verdict.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22955757/
It will be read later today from the Ocala federal courtroom.
Snipes and two co-defendants were indicted in 2006 for tax fraud and conspiracy. Snipes faced six additional counts of willful failure to file a tax return from 1999 to 2004, a period in which he signed two contracts for more than 10 million dollars on sequels in the "Blade" trilogy.
The star of the "Blade" films and "White Men Can't Jump" is among the most famous targets of an IRS criminal investigation, and his prosecution was key for the government. The actor used tax protest arguments long rejected by courts but still continuing to find adherents.
For example, Snipes said the IRS's own code meant no citizen had to pay taxes on income earned in this country, and the agency had no legal authority to collect wages anyway, because it is not a proper government entity.
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