Judge Orders Snipes to Pay Court Costs

A Florida judge has ruled in favor of prosecutors' requests to require actor Wesley Snipes to pay for the cost of his recent tax prosecution.

U.S. District Court Judge William Terrell Hodges ordered Snipes to pay $217,363.75 to reimburse the government. Snipes was convicted in February of three misdemeanor counts of failing to file tax returns for three years, but was found not guilty of felony charges of tax fraud and conspiracy (see Snipes Not Guilty of Tax Felonies).

The Blade trilogy star was sentenced to three years in prison in April for his tax protest, which was based on ideas passed to him by co-defendants Eddie Ray Kahn and accountant Douglas Rosile, including how only income from foreign sources is subject to U.S. taxes.

Prosecutors demanded in June that Snipes pay over $250,000 for the cost of scanning, printing, and numbering documents, witness-related fees, fees for daily trial transcripts, and fees for copying and certification of trial exhibits (see Government Wants Snipes to Pay for Tax Prosecution). Snipes' attorneys argued that the costs were excessive.

Snipes remains free on a $1 million bond pending his appeal. The judge granted permission last month to Snipes to travel abroad to work on two movies in London and Bangkok.