As Wesley Snipes is finding out. He's currently in Namibia filming a new movie, Gallowwalker. He is also scheduled to film Toussaint in Africa. It is being directed by Danny Glover and stars Angela Bassett and Don Cheadle. Based on the IMDB entry, it appears Snipes is in a co-starring role at best.
Gallowwalker has already taken it on the chops as being more of what Snipes has done lately, which apparently is not much of anything worthy of his ability. Toussaint may be a different matter altogether. Whether or not he gets to participate may hinge on Namibia's response to a US request for extradition.
Snipes is in serious trouble. He can't dodge the claim of non-filing. It is a straightforward allegation that is easy to establish. At issue will be whether or not it was willful and rising to the level of a criminal act. The refunds are a different matter, and unfortunately he associated himself with true losers who have advanced spurious arguments in the past. The IRS loves to make examples of celebrities who are good candidates for criminal prosecution. The Department of Justice (DOJ) will actually argue the case, and they had to be convinced it was worth pursuing before any indictment came down. Believe me, they would not have indicted him if they didn't think they could win and score points at the same time.
I have to wonder what Snipes was thinking. Conviction is not a good thing. Although I suppose if any publicity is better than no publicity he may not see it that way. There is probably a money angle to it as well. It appears his finances are not in good shape. If he has any sense, and a decent lawyer (his previous lawyers cut and run when the indictment was announced), he'll make a deal while the deal-making is good. That assumes of course, that he wasn't offered a deal earlier in the game. Bad form if he refused an offer expecting something better.
The tabloids will feast on this for some time to come.
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