OCALA, Fla. – The jury in actor Wesley Snipes' tax case passed its first full day of deliberation Wednesday without a verdict.
Snipes and two co-defendants are accused of fraud and conspiracy in an eight-count 2006 indictment. The action star faces six additional charges for failing to file tax returns from 1999-2004.
The IRS alleged Snipes, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas P. Rosile engaged them in a long fight insisting the actor didn't owe any taxes.
Click here for Snipes' Indictment (pdf).
To win conviction, the government must prove not only that Snipes and company broke the law, but that they meant to.
Snipes' lawyers say he was a victim of bad financial advice, and sincerely believed he didn't have to pay the government anything.
Kahn is the alleged ringleader of a central Florida tax protest group called American Rights Litigators, then Guiding Light of God Ministries. Kahn, a former CPA who lost licenses to practice in Florida and Ohio, allegedly drew up Snipes' fraudulent refund claims.
Prosecutors say the actor was looking for a way to avoid increasing tax bills caused by his burgeoning movie success.
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