Federal Defense Attorney John Teakell

It seems that well known actor Wesley Snipes may be heading to prison after being convicted of tax evasion charges. On October 12, 2006, Wesley Snipes, Eddie Kahn, and Douglas Rosile were charged with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States under 18 U.S.C. § 371 and one count of knowingly making or aiding and abetting the making of a false and fraudulent claim for payment against the United States, under 18 U.S.C. § 287 and 18 U.S.C. § 2. Snipes was also charged with six counts of willfully failing to file Federal income tax returns by their filing dates under 26 U.S.C. § 7203.

The United States Attorney alleged that Kahn was the founder of American Rights Litigators, as well as a successor group that purported to help members legally avoid paying income taxes. Rosile, a former accountant who lost his licenses in Ohio and Florida, prepared Snipes’ paperwork. Snipes maintained in letters he wrote to the IRS that he was not obligated to pay taxes, using fringe arguments common to “tax protesters” who say the government has no legal right to collect.

The trial began on January 14, 2008 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Snipes sought to distance himself from his two tax-protesting co-defendants and claimed he was the victim of unscrupulous accountants and sincerely believed he didn’t have to pay taxes. Snipes chose to call no witnesses and after a two week trial the case went to the jury. A verdict was returned and Snipes was found guilty on three misdemeanor charges of failing to file tax returns - but jurors cleared him of the more serious felony charges of tax fraud and conspiracy. Snipes’ co-defendants, Rosile and Kahn, were not as fortunate and were convicted on both felony counts of which the actor was acquitted.

Sentencing was scheduled for April 24, 2008. The United States Attorney recommended that Snipes should receive the maximum sentence provided under law of three years. Snipes’ attorneys argued that the sentence was too stiff for a first-time offender convicted of three misdemeanors, and recommended he be given home detention and ordered to perform public service. United States District Judge William Terrell Hodges sided with the government and said Snipes exhibited a “history of contempt over a period of time” for U.S. tax laws. “In my mind these are serious crimes, albeit misdemeanors,” Hodges said. He then sentenced Snipes to three years in federal prison. Kahn, who refused to defend himself in court, was sentenced to the maximum 10 years, while Rosile received 4 1/2 years. Both will serve three years of supervised release.

Snipes is ordered to surrender to federal prison authorities on June 3, 2008, if he isn’t granted bail to appeal the three federal tax convictions. The government argues in a court filing that Snipes is a flight risk and should not be allowed to remain free. Judge Hodges has apparently taken the motion under advisement and will rule on it before the June 3, 2008, date when Snipes is scheduled to surrender to authorities.

If you or a loved one is being accused of federal tax evasion, contact Dallas federal tax evasion attorney

John Teakell.

For those that have been convicted of a crime, release from prison often times will bring about more obstacles than many ex-offenders may actually realize.  Once the prison door opens an ex-offender may receive little more than a bus ticket and spending money for a day or two.  After this they are on their own and faced with establishing a place of residency and employment. This can prove to very difficult due to their felon status. In addition, this daunting challenge has been proven to be one of the major reasons that ex-offenders commit future crimes upon release and eventually return back to prison.

In a recent shift in attitudes about incarceration, many states have experimented with re-entry programs to help released prisoners fit back into their communities and avoid new crime. Recognizing the challenges ex-offenders face upon re-entry to society, Representative Danny Davis (D-Ill) introduced a bill titled the Second Chance Act of 2007 (HR1593). The measure, sponsored by Davis in the Senate, easily passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President George Bush on April 9, 2008.

Davis noted that the United States imprisons more citizens than any other nation on Earth, and releases 700,000 offenders from state and federal prisons annually. Davis further noted:

“These men and women deserve a second chance. Their families, spouses and children, deserve a second chance and their communities deserve a second chance. A second chance means an opportunity to turn a life around. A chance to break the grip of a drug habit. A chance to support a family, to pay taxes, to be self-sufficient.”

The Justice Department estimates that nearly two-thirds of released prisoners will find themselves in trouble with the law at some point in the future. The Act is designed and intended to reduce that recidivism rate. The Act will also help connect people released from prison and jail to mental health and substance abuse treatment, expand job training and placement services, and facilitate transitional housing and case management services. Additionally, the Act authorizes a number of other programs aimed at offenders, including treatment programs as an alternative to incarceration.

Now that the Second Chance Act has been signed into law what does all this mean for the ex-offender? The opportunity to obtain grants for housing is a goal of the act. Financial assistance will provide a significant boost to those reentering with hopes of finding residency. Furthermore, ex-offenders may also receive assistance in education, vocational training, and job placement services. Student loans once not available to convicted felons may now be available. This will help reintegrate the ex-offender into society while they develop the skills and a foundation necessary to avoid recidivism.

For anyone that is not familiar with the story of Willie Mays Aikens it is a tragic tale that illustrates the unjust sentencing and racial disparities between crack and powder cocaine in the federal court system. Aikens was a Major League Baseball player who played nearly a decade, mostly with the Kansas City Royals, and was especially prominent in the 1980 World Series. Aikens became famous by becoming the first Major League Baseball player to have two multi-home run games in the same World Series. This fame was short lived, however, when in 1983 he was arrested for cocaine possession and sentenced to prison for three months. Upon his release from prison Aikens played another two years for the Toronto Blue Jays but was never able to return to the form that had gained him fame.

After his baseball career, Aikens’ legal problems continued when in 1993, a Kansas City police officer began purchasing small amounts of crack cocaine from Aikens. After several undercover transactions that amounted to less than $100, Aikens was arrested by police. The entire amount of sales added together equaled a total of 64 grams. With this evidence, the United States Attorney’s office charged Aikens with multiple counts of trafficking crack cocaine.

Because of the harsher sentencing penalties for dealing crack in the federal system, Aikens faced a sentence as if selling the equivalent of 15 pounds of powder cocaine. The sentencing disparity was established after the cocaine-related death of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias in which Congress felt obliged to pass the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. It allowed sentences for offenses involving crack cocaine, seen at the time as the more dangerous form of the drug, to be 100 times more severe than for crimes involving powder cocaine.

Aikens rejected all of the government’s plea offers and instead exercised his right to a trial claiming that he had been entrapped. However, a federal jury did not agree and Aikens was convicted on all charges. Aikens was then sentenced to a mandatory minimum sentence of 248 months in prison. Had the drug charges against him involved a similar amount of powder cocaine, Aikens would have been sentenced, at most, to 27 months instead of the maximum 20-plus years he was given. In addition, because a 12-gauge shotgun was found on the premises, Aikens was sentenced to an additional 5 years for possessing a firearm in connection with a narcotics offense.

After being turned down for a presidential pardon and serving over 14 years of his 20 year sentence, Aikens finally got the break he had been waiting for. On March 3, 2008 new crack sentencing guidelines were approved by Congress and made retroactive, affecting Aikens’ sentence. The result was Aikens’ sentence was lowered to 15 years thus making him eligible for release on June 9, 2008.

Despite his baseball fame and prestige, Aikens’ story is not a unique one. His situation has also been experienced by thousands of other men and women who are serving severe sentences for low-level drug offenses. Fortunately, the recent changes to the sentencing guidelines are finally curing the disparity and injustice suffered by Aikens and thousands of others.

If you or a loved one has been accused of alleged drug trafficking, contact Dallas drug trafficking charges defense attorney John Teakell for your 100% free consultation.