Will Smith Can Do No Wrong, Except Maybe This New Hancock Flick!

Is Smith's 'Hancock' Box Office Gold or Roadkill?
Dying Woman Ignored at Brooklyn Hospital
The Philadelphia Tribune Named Best Black Newspaper
Obama: Service to Be a Cornerstone of Presidency
Obama Met Privately with Powell at His Office

Black Buying Power Touted

Hughes Brothers Pimp Project for HBO
Judge: Snipes Can Travel Abroad for Movies
Baltimore Mayor Calls Ethics Probe Racist, Sexist
Jamaican Files Slavery Lawsuit Against Bank
Study: Gentrification Benefits Many Blacks
Judge Raps Jay-Z Club in Lawsuit

Wesley Snipes Enjoying Freedom and Fatherhood For One More Day

Days of Freedom are limited for actor Wesley Snipes, before he has to turn himself in to serve his 3 years of jail on federal tax evasion.

We wish him an especially Happy Fathers Day. In the end his choices don't negate that he is a father as well. He reminds all dads that the decision we make don't only effect me but effect our children as well.

His Prayers Unanswered, Wesley Snipes Gets 3 Years In Prison

The Black superstar who has been working at his craft for over 30 years was just ordered to serve three years on lockdown for the multiple misdemeanor tax charges he was found guilty of by a jury of his peers.

It's unfortunate anytime someone has to be locked up, and this is clearly no exception.

CNN announced the decision by U.S. District Judge William Hodges in Ocala, Florida. Clearly the maximum penalty was meant to demonstrate that refusal to pay income taxes will cause you to be on lockdown, with three hots and a cot.

Snipes was convicted of three misdemeanor charges for not filing his taxes, the maximum sentence allowed, in addition to a fine up to $5 million dollars. The father of three was surrounded by his defense team earlier today arguing that he should not have to go to prison.

Snipes, who has starred in movies such as "New Jack City", "Jungle Fever", "Blade," "Major League", "Murder at 1600" and HBO's "Disappearing Acts" had been charged with felony conspiracy counts for participating in a scheme that rejects the legal foundation of the tax system. However, a jury accepted his argument that he was innocently duped by errant tax advisers and acquitted him on the most serious charges.

"The fact that Snipes was acquitted on two felony charges and convicted 'only' on three misdemeanor counts has been portrayed in the mainstream media as a 'victory' for Snipes," the government document says.

"The troubling implication of such coverage for the millions of average citizens who are aware of this case is that the rich and famous Wesley Snipes has 'gotten away with it.' In the end, the criminal conduct of Snipes must not be seen in such a light."

Despite several character witness letters written tv judges and celebrity buddies like Woody Harrelson and Denzel Washington, the probation department indicated in their pre sentencing report that Snipes’ conduct could be construed as trying to obstruct the investigation. The report said that could be grounds to increase Snipes’ jail time.

"In the defendant Wesley Snipes, the court is presented with a wealthy, famous and inveterate tax scofflaw. If ever a tax offender was deserving of being held accountable to the maximum extent for his criminal wrongdoing, Snipes is that defendant," it says.

"For nearly a decade, Snipes has engaged in a campaign of criminal tax conduct combining brazen defiance with insidious concealment," the prosecutors say. "By these means, Snipes has escaped paying more than $15 million in income tax to the IRS and has pursued an intended fraudulent harm to the United States Treasury of more than $41 million."

The document says Snipes shipped millions of dollars to accounts in Switzerland, Antigua and the Isle of Man to avoid taxes.

The IRS is also seeking repayment of all taxes and interest through civil court proceedings.

Wesley Snipes Is Channeling LisaRaye But Needs To Start Picking Out A Black & White Striped Number

Prosecutor Seeks 3 Years in Prison for Wesley Snipes
Keisha Knight Pulliam Hooks Up with 'Madea' Movie
Probes Wanted on Sludge Research in Poor Neighborhoods
US Calls for Africa to Act on Zimbabwe
Obama Says Debate Focused on 'Gotcha,' Not Policy Issues
Obama Meets Jay-Z in YouTube Mashup Video

Second Trial Against Ex-Newark Mayor Sharpe Possible
UN and AU Want 26,000-Strong Force in Darfur Quickly
Single Men Are Filling the Parenting Void
UN to Step Up Food Aid for Haiti Following Riots Over Prices
South African Unions Protest Mounting Food Prices
Millions of Offenders to Get 'Second Chance'

WESLEY SNIPES GUILTY AS CHARGED... BUT ONLY ON MISDEMEANOR CHARGES!!!

Still Facing Lockdown, Some Of The Brotha's Prayers Go Unanswered

Black Hollywood superstar Wesley Snipes, 45, was just convicted of three misdemeanor counts of tax evasion. Although he did dodge the bullet on the felony tax fraud charges, Snipes still faces three years in federal prison for failing to file tax returns covering millions of dollars from 1999-2001.

A Florida jury of seven women and five men announced the verdict Friday afternoon, after beginning deliberations Wednesday. During the course of the trial, the veteran actor's attorneys admitted he was "dead wrong" not to have paid taxes and that he would make restitution. In so arguing, they also claimed that no fraud was perpetrated and that no trial was even necessary.

"Disagreement with the IRS is not fraud of the IRS, is not deception," argued defense attorney Robert Barnes.

When the day's session concluded on Tuesday, Snipes said outside the courthouse, "Of course you would be nervous,. You're on trial. Anybody would have a certain amount of anxiety about that. But I have a great deal of faith in the Most High and the Good Lord and the truth shall set you free. So, I'm looking forward to being free, going back to what I do best."

Snipes has starred in a wide range of roles. He displayed his martial art skilss in the Blade vampire trilogy, played a cross-dresser in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, portrayed a black man struggling with life in Disappearing Acts, Jungle Fever and New Jack City, and was a convincing fugitive in U.S. Marshals. The chocolate black man with the high voltage smile is due to be seen later this year in Gallowwalker, which was shot in the African nation of Namibia.

Snipes was convicted along with his accountant and the founder of a tax-protest outfit called American Rights Litigators."The defendants know what the law is, they just don't like the law," Assistant U.S. Attorney Scotland Morris told the jury members before they went to verdict. "The defendants are tax protesters."

Mayor Kwame Lets Jesus Take The Wheel

Detroit's Kilpatrick To Break Silence at Church Meeting
* Largest Black Bookstore Closes

*Advertising Targeting African Americans Exceeds $2.3 Billion

The Black List: Like A Living Coffee Table Book
*Kenya Parties to Begin Mediation
*Obama Courts Republicans Returns Money Tied to Donor

*
McDonald's Pulls Ads from Suggestive BET.com Content
*Haiti's Rising Food Prices Drive Poor to Eat Mud
*Wesley Snipes Trial Offers IRS Perfect Script
*Howard University Soccer Coach Arrested
*Michael Jackson Eyeing Super Bowl Comeback

*Meet The Nation's First Openly Lesbian Black Mayor

Wesley Snipes Has Some Explaining To Do

Did the acclaimed Black action-movie star duck and roll under the tax system, or was he simply asking the Internal Revenue Service for help in filing his returns?

On Monday morning, federal prosecutors, defense attorneys and a judge will sift through dozens of prospective jurors from four Central Florida counties with the goal of seating a 12-member jury. The jury will take up to four weeks to determine whether actor Wesley Snipes is guilty of conspiracy and presenting false claims for millions of dollars in tax refunds. Snipes also is charged with failing to file tax returns for six years.

If convicted, he faces up to 16 years in prison. Details>>>

Attention Internet Users: Juanita Bynum Has An New Announcement ... Be Nice!

Bynum: I've Come This Far by Faith
It Could Be All Over for the Black Middle Class
Black-Focused School Gains Ground in Canada
Obama Calls Internet Attack 'Dirty Trick'
Tapping Into Black Buying Power
Senate Inquiry Targets Televangelists
Wesley Snipes Alleges Racism, Seeks Trial Venue Change
Black Families Adopting from Overseas
T.I. Drops Bid for Thanksgiving Day Celebration
Slave Labor Helped Build US Capitol
Jay-Z Purchases Artful Dodger Clothing Line
Charlotte to Host 2008 Black Enterprise Expo

Jena 6, Republicans And The Race For The White House: Now That's A Mouthful!

GOP's Fred Thompson Knows "Nothing" About The Jena 6
Why Jesse Jackson Is Calling Bush On The Jena Case
Bush Has No Love For Obama, Put's Money On Hillary
Activists Gather for Discussions on Black Power
Lasting Legacy: 50th Anniversary of the Little Rock Nine
Naomi Campbell Still Has What It Takes
Woman Wants Share of James Brown Estate
Halle Berry Already Hooked on More Kids
Tuskegee Airman Tireless in Telling Black Heroes' Tale
Sharpton on Delaware State University Shooting
US Donates 96 Million Dollars to Ethiopia
Wesley Snipes Vows to Challenge $1.7M Court Order
BET to Air 'Hip-Hop vs. America'

Everybody's Trying To Get A Piece Of Wesley Snipes

Talented Brother Is Strapping Up To Do Battle In Court

United Talent Agency (UTA) expects a L.A. Superior Court judge to grant a default judgment in their favor and against actor Wesley Snipes within 5 days.

According to a lawsuit filed in L.A. in 2006, UTA charged breach of an oral contract made with Snipes in November 2002 in which the agency was to be paid 10% of monies earned by the actor for roles procured by them.

UTA's attorney announced that Snipes could end up with a $2 million judgment. He will also face the Florida courts in October for alleged tax fraud.

ORAL CONTRACT? C'mon UTA, Business 101 - Get it in writing! Also, their lawsuit was filed 4 years later. It doesn't pass the sniff test.

LA Stylin