By Stone Martindale Dec 8, 2006, 20:39 GMT
Wesley Snipes, in trouble over some unpaid taxes and fudged and never filed returns, has been caught by Feds in Orlando, Florida.
Actor Wesley Snipes poses for photographers during the premiere of the film 'Inside Man' in New York in this March 20, 2006 file photo. Snipes surrendered to police on income-tax evasion charges early on Friday at Orlando International Airport and is due to appear in court, the U.S. attorney's office said. REUTERS/Keith Bedford/Files
Snipes had been on a two-month run as a fugitive Friday, when he finally surrendered to government officials.
Snipes, 44, was indicted in October on numerous tax-dodging charges, and an arrest warrant was issued.The lawyer for Snipes and the government were working on a deal for him to turn himself in.
E! reports that Snipes "flew into his hometown of Orlando on a private jet and voluntarily turned himself in, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Tampa. Around 9:30 a.m. local time, the actor, sporting a shaved head, salt-and-pepper beard and a dark suit, was escorted by U.S. marshals and a prosecutor into federal court in Ocala for arraignment."
Snipes was released on $1 million bond and allowed him to return to Africa to finish the film Gallowwalker. Snipes was ordered back in court for another hearing on Jan. 10th.
"I look forward to clearing my name and resolving this issue post haste," Snipes told reporters.
Snipes is accused of attempting to cheat the Internal Revenue Service out of $12 million in fraudulent refunds from the nineties.
Additionally, Snipes allegedly did not file any returns from 1999 to 2004. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 16 years in federal lockup.
CNN reported that Snipes was indicted on Oct. 17th with alleged coconspirators Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile, two men who ran American Rights Litigators, a Florida accounting firm purportedly specializing in circumventing the IRS.
"I know this has more to do with a few individuals with access to power, making moves (trying to move up!) and less with some alleged crime against the whole population of the United States of America. This reminds me of rape cases where the 'victim' is flipped, turned or converted into the role of victimizer, the 'architect conspirator,' " Snipes wrote in the Orlando Sentinel.
"It appears I'm to be the scapegoat, because there's more public interest in 'celebrities gone bad' than 'rich people being taken advantage of.' "
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