Snipes' trial on next month, judge rules

OCALA - Actor Wesley Snipes' federal tax-evasion trial will go forward next month here despite arguments by his lawyers for a delay and relocation.

The rulings were among several made Monday by U.S. District Judge William T. Hodges.

Snipes' lawyers had claimed he cannot get a fair trial in Ocala. Snipes previously filed motions to dismiss or transfer the trial because of racial prejudices.

A message left for Snipes' attorney was not returned.

Federal prosecutors have previously said there is "no basis in reality" for Snipes' claims.

An October 2006 federal indictment charges Snipes with fraudulently claiming refunds totaling almost $12-million in 1996 and 1997 for income taxes already paid. The 45-year-old star of the Blade trilogy also was charged with failure to file returns from 1999 through 2004.

Snipes allegedly conspired with American Rights Litigators' founder Eddie Ray Kahn and tax preparer Douglas P. Rosile Sr. to file false refund claims based on a bogus argument that only income from foreign sources was subject to taxation.

Lawyers argued Snipes had the right to a trial in New York, where he lived between 2000 and 2005 when the offenses allegedly occurred, or in Orlando, where he also has a home.

[Last modified December 28, 2007, 01:57:48]