Snipes' lawyer says he tried to cooperate

OCALA -- It took six years for the Internal Revenue Service to respond to Wesley Snipes' written request for a meeting on whether he owned money or whether they had to pay him $11.4-million in refunds.

When an IRS agent contacted Snipes in May 2002, he informed the actor of his rights and told him the IRS was launching an investigation, Robert Bernhoft, Snipes' lead attorney, said today during opening statements in Snipes' federal tax evasion trial.

Several prosecutors have accused the Blade trilogy star of filing fraudulent tax returns for 1996 and 1997, claiming millions of dollars in refunds on taxes he already paid. The IRS also says that Snipes filed no taxes at all from 1999 to 2004.

The U.S. Attorney's Office indicted Snipes on criminal charges in October 2006. His trial began Monday.

Bernhoft says that Snipes sent more than two dozen document packages to the IRS as he tried to get them to sit down for a meeting and explain what he owed and which forms he needed to complete.

Snipes had received conflicting information from separate finance advisers on tax law, Bernhoft said. One of them was celebrity finance firm Starr and Company of New York, whose client list included broadcaster Tom Brokaw and actor Sylvester Stallone.

When Snipes asked the IRS to explain whether he had to file certain taxes at all, Bernhoft said, the agency wouldn't.

"We can't tell you whether you are supposed to file a tax return until you file a return," the IRS responded, according to Bernhoft.

"Welcome to the wacky world of the IRS," the attorney told jurors.

In his opening statement for the prosecution, interim U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill told jurors that he plans to show finance records for Snipes during the years he did not file, which will prove that the actor made money and willfully did not file his taxes.

O'Neill also said that Snipes worked with American Rights Litigators, a Lake County firm known for trying to "thwart the process of the IRS" for its clients.

Eddie Ray Kahn, who ran American Rights Litigators, and Douglas Rosile, an accountant who prepared the allegedly false tax refund claims for Snipes, are co-defendents in the case.

Snipes is no tax cheat, said another of his defense attorneys, Daniel Meachum. "Wesley Snipes has never had any intentions to default the government," Meachum said. "He has never been a conspirator. He has never been a tax protester, and he has never ever been a cheat.

"Let me tell you what he is," Meachum said. "He is an American like all of us, who asked questions."

If convicted on the charges, Snipes faces a maximum of 16 years in prison. The trial is expected to last a month.

- Kevin Graham, Times staff writer

Comments

[Sabrina]

I am not buying it! Did he really think that he was smarter than all of his other rich buddies in Hollywood and did not have to pay taxes? That he had found the secret loophole? Give me a break. He is playing the system and was laughing until he got caught!

[peggy arvanitas]

You know, like the Boot Camp Anderson trial, once again we have the African American family (man) saying they want to be judged by a jury of his peers. The jury sequestering was commical, the woman (WHITE) felt blacks were more prome to get into trouble with the law.
How fair would that woman have been?

The IRS, in 1992, told me I did not file 1988-1989 taxes. NOT ONLY did I file, but in 1988, I got a $400 REFUND. Did they forget? Not real bright.

One year, they said I failed to repsond to an AUDIT, and said I owed $10,000 MORE in back taxes than I showed on my W-9 and W-4. Am I in a 120% tax bracket? No home, no swiss bank account...NO previous filing any where above $45,000 a year, as a self employed contractor.

I am for SIPES.

[Brese]

I tell you what, I thought this guy was a cheat too, but after reading this, I agree wtih their argument that they should be able to give clear instructions...

[William]

In addition to the tax evasion charges, Snipes should do hard time just because of the terrible movies he does.

If they say you have to file a return, you file the most accurate one you can. You don't get to say, well they didn't answer my questions so I'm just not going to pay taxes on my millions.

You don't get to say my accountant is a moron, so I'm not filing. It's YOUR responsibility to pay.

Very stupid. Very poor excuses.

[gene]

i want to suck his big black c ock!