Archive for July 19th, 2010

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Wesley Snipes’ 3-year jail sentence he received after being found guilty of three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return.  The ABA Journal reports:

Saying that a federal district judge in Florida had discretion to sentence Wesley Snipes the maximum term, a federal appeals court has upheld the actor’s three consecutive one-year sentences on three misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file a tax return.

Snipes reportedly owes the Internal Revenue Service some $17 million (presumably minus a $5 million payment he made on the eve of sentencing in 2008). And, although his law firm dropped him as a client when he refused to follow advice that he was violating tax law, Snipes not only refused to file himself on bogus grounds but urged others to follow his lead, recounts the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its written opinion (PDF).

Although Snipes contended that the only reasonable sentence for him was probation, citing his college education, family and charitable works, among other mitigating factors, the 11th Circuit found otherwise: “The district court acted well within its considerable discretion in sentencing Snipes to 36 months in prison,” the appellate panel writes.

For help with your tax situation, contact attorney Norman D. McKellar today at 865-566-0125.

Bankruptcy Trustee Wants Michael Vick to Return $2 Million – Bankruptcy Beat – WSJ

By Eric Morath

A bankruptcy trustee is demanding that National Football League quarterback Michael Vick repay at least $2 million he gave to friends and family as he faced mounting legal trouble stemming from his role in a dogfighting operation, the Associated Press reported.

Joseph J. Luzinski, the trustee overseeing Vick’s two-year-old bankruptcy case, says those gifts should be the property of the Philadelphia Eagles backup’s creditors.

Unwinding such transactions, called fraudulent transfers, that occur in the months leading up to a bankruptcy filing is common in both personal and business cases.

“We are not suing Mike Vick or accusing Mike Vick of fraud,” Luzinski’s attorney Ross Reeves told the AP. “This is about the proper distribution of assets Vick had before his bankruptcy.”

According the trustee, Vick gave gifts to his mother, fiance, several friends and his brother, Marcus, who also played football.

An attorney for the quarterback said Vick wasn’t trying to do anything illegal.

“He was being generous to his friends and family,” Vick’s bankruptcy attorney, Paul Campsen, told the Virginian-Pilot.

Vick, a former Pro Bowl quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, claimed to have $20 million in debt when he filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2008.