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Snipes Acquitted Of Fraud, Found Guilty Of Failing To File Tax Returns

OCALA, Fla. -- A jury has acquitted Wesley Snipes of federal tax-fraud and conspiracy charges, but convicted him of failing to file tax returns.

Snipes could be sentenced to as much as three years in prison. He originally faced a possible 16 years.

Snipes and two co-defendants -- a former accountant and a tax protest leader -- were indicted in 2006. His co-defendants were convicted by the same jury of tax fraud and conspiracy.

The star of the "Blade" films and "White Men Can't Jump" is among the most famous targets of an IRS criminal investigation, and his prosecution was key for the government. The actor used tax protest arguments long rejected by courts but still continuing to find adherents.

For example, Snipes said the IRS' own code meant no citizen had to pay taxes on income earned in this country, and the agency had no legal authority to collect wages anyway, because it is not a proper government entity.