Lawyers Want Max Sentence for Snipes
ORLANDO, Fla. (April 24)

- There is a perception, federal prosecutors fear, that Wesley Snipes emerged victorious from years of IRS investigation and a highly publicized tax trial.

And there is some truth to that. Snipes was acquitted in February of five of eight counts - including felony fraud and conspiracy charges that each carried up to five years in prison. But the action star was convicted of three lesser charges of willful failure to file a return.


Photo Gallery
Joe Kaleita, AP The IRS Takes on
'Nontaxpayer' Actor1 of 4 A jury found Wesley Snipes, here outside of a Florida court on Jan. 29, not guilty of federal tax-fraud, but convicted him on three counts of failing to file a tax return -- a misdemeanor charge. He could be facing three years in prison.

Seeking to make an example of a "notorious" and "inveterate" offender, prosecutors are asking for the maximum three years in prison and a fine of at least $5 million when Snipes is sentenced Thursday in federal court in Ocala.

"This case cries out for the statutory maximum term of imprisonment, as well as a substantial fine, because of the seriousness of defendant Snipes' crimes and because of the singular opportunity this case presents to deter tax crimes nationwide," prosecutors wrote in an aggressive, 37-page memorandum to U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges.

Along with Snipes, the star of the "Blade" films and "White Men Can't Jump," co-defendants Douglas P. Rosile and Eddie Ray Kahn will be sentenced. Both were convicted of the felony fraud and conspiracy counts prosecutors couldn't hang on the action star.

Prosecutors are asking Hodges to consider not only Snipes' conviction, but also "relevant conduct" alleged in the government's broader indictment and investigation.

In this case, that Snipes sought $11 million in bogus tax returns, instructed all his employees to stop paying taxes, transferred millions to hidden foreign accounts and threatened government agents investigating him. It was unclear if the jury believed those parts of the government's case at trial. Either way, the law allows their consideration at sentencing, and under a lesser burden of proof than before the jury.

Snipes' defense filed its own lengthy sentencing memorandum Wednesday asking for probation, and not imprisonment. The filing included about three dozen letters attesting to Snipes' good character from family, friends, employees and even celebrities Woody Harrelson and Denzel Washington.

"He is contrite, promises that he will never again break the law, and respectfully asks the Court to consider not just the jury verdict but also all the good that he has done in his life," Snipes' attorneys wrote.

Snipes was convicted of failing to file returns for 1999, 2000 and 2001, a period in which the government alleged he made at least $13.8 million and would be liable for $2.7 million in taxes. That amount alone exceeds the monetary guidelines calling for a 36-month sentence.

But Snipes' attorneys say that tax table is "structurally flawed" when applied to misdemeanor cases, and he owed far less anyway. They says Snipes' back taxes are fewer than $400,000 for the years in question, a cutoff point for enhanced sentencing.

Snipes' attorneys also said the government's attempt make an example of him "approaches the type of vindictiveness prohibited by the due process clause."

Here's a link to the actual ruling on Virginia vs. Moore for anyone who is interested. No media spin here - lol.

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/06-1082.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by Hudson:
Proud,
If the driver was an illegal, 4now would be jumping for joy stating we have gotten a bad driver off the streets, applauding the cops for doing a great job, etc.

I chalk this up to "what goes around, comes around."

Hi Hudson,

I posted the link to the Supreme Court's ruling on the case which has more information than the article 4Now posted.

This case reeks to me. No one is more against drugs, drug dealers and anything related to drugs than me. The police in this case were provided with an anonymous tip that Moore was driving on a suspended license. This violation is a misdemeanor in Virginia and the guy should have been given the ticket and sent on his way (unless he was showing signs of being dui or something, which he wasn't). So, what prompted the officers to conduct the search? What gave them the right to do so? I don't believe the entire story is being told. The tipster probably told the police this guy was carrying illegal drugs - thus, the reason for the search. But, it still doesn't make it right.

quote:

Originally posted by 4now:
Sorry dude

You must be suffering from false memory syndrome. ah yes... I forgot you had a crystal ball
Obviously from this remark ...You have no clue who I am and what i am about.

No, you missed the point 4now. You might want to try harder.

Proud,
What you have to realize is that unreasonable search and siezure of porpoety is what the Supreme Court looked at, not the arrest itself. Seizure of property is mutually exclusive to an arrest even thoguh one can lead to the other in either case. If you want History of seach and siezures can be found at the link that I provided. Officers can enter property even without a warrant if the police authorities meet certain requirements. This may be one case. It was an anomymous tip that led police to the suspect. Even thoguh he violated a minor crime of driving without a license and thus violated state law by arresting him, the search was valid per SCOTUS.

quote:

Originally posted by Hudson:
Proud,
What you have to realize is that unreasonable search and siezure of porpoety is what the Supreme Court looked at, not the arrest itself. Seizure of property is mutually exclusive to an arrest even thoguh one can lead to the other in either case. If you want History of seach and siezures can be found at the link that I provided. Officers can enter property even without a warrant if the police authorities meet certain requirements. This may be one case. It was an anomymous tip that led police to the suspect. Even thoguh he violated a minor crime of driving without a license and thus violated state law by arresting him, the search was valid per SCOTUS.

It was alledgedly an anomynous tip. It is always what is said to suit/cover their illegal actions.

Sadly, It could happen to any of us. BEWARE

quote:

Sadly, It could happen to any of us. BEWARE

You took the words right out of my mouth.

UPDATE


Snipes Handed 36-Month Prison Sentence

'Blade' Actor Given Maximum Punishment for Tax Crimes
By TRAVIS REED, AP
Posted: 2008-04-24 19:22:54

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 24) - Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison on tax charges Thursday, a victory for prosecutors who sought to make an example of the action star by aggressively pursuing the maximum penalty.

full coverage

quote:

Originally posted by 4now:
It was alledgedly an anomynous tip. It is always what is said to suit/cover their illegal actions.

Sadly, It could happen to any of us. BEWARE

There was nothing alleged about the anonymous tip 4now. When the report came over the police radio, the nickname "chubs" was used. An officer know a person who had that nickname. When the respondent was pulled over, the license was indeed suspended, which meets the probalbe cause was evident. If probable cause is evident, then a warrant need not to be issued because it meets the "reasonable search and seizure" criteria set forth by the Supreme Court. Remember, unreasonable search and seizure may nullify an arrest, but an illegal arrest does not nullify a reasonable search and seizure that meets Constitutional guidelines. And that was exactly the argument Mr Moore used and why the case was rejected. History of how the Supreme Court defines a "reasonable search and seizure" was on the side of the law.

And it is not the doom and gloom you may think. This is very obscure Constitutional arguments being presented here and nothing more.

quote:

Originally posted by 4now:
UPDATE


Snipes Handed 36-Month Prison Sentence

'Blade' Actor Given Maximum Punishment for Tax Crimes
By TRAVIS REED, AP
Posted: 2008-04-24 19:22:54

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 24) - Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison on tax charges Thursday, a victory for prosecutors who sought to make an example of the action star by aggressively pursuing the maximum penalty.

full coverage

He will spend 3 years in Club Fed which is sort of like Snipes spending 3 years in a Motel 6.

quote:

Originally posted by Hudson:

quote:

Originally posted by 4now:
It was alledgedly an anomynous tip. It is always what is said to suit/cover their illegal actions.

Sadly, It could happen to any of us. BEWARE

There was nothing alleged about the anonymous tip 4now. When the report came over the police radio, the nickname "chubs" was used. An officer know a person who had that nickname. When the respondent was pulled over, the license was indeed suspended, which meets the probalbe cause was evident. If probable cause is evident, then a warrant need not to be issued because it meets the "reasonable search and seizure" criteria set forth by the Supreme Court. Remember, unreasonable search and seizure may nullify an arrest, but an illegal arrest does not nullify a reasonable search and seizure that meets Constitutional guidelines. And that was exactly the argument Mr Moore used and why the case was rejected. History of how the Supreme Court defines a "reasonable search and seizure" was on the side of the law.

And it is not the doom and gloom you may think. This is very obscure Constitutional arguments being presented here and nothing more.

According to VA state. citation for driving for suspended license is in order. no arrest.

per quote:
"The violation is a minor crime in Virginia and calls for police to issue a court summons and let the driver go."

Why did they arrest him? If he was not arrested, then there would not have been a search.


It reeks of setup.

quote:

Originally posted by 4now:
According to VA state. citation for driving for suspended license is in order. no arrest.

per quote:
"The violation is a minor crime in Virginia and calls for police to issue a court summons and let the driver go."

Why did they arrest him? If he was not arrested, then there would not have been a search.


It reeks of setup.

Let me try it this way, the officers made technical mistakes when they arrested Mr Moore for driving without a license. I agree that the arrest was invalid, however, I do not agree that the 4th amendment was violated. The argument was this: "Was the Fourth Amendment violated because the officers violated state law when a citation should have been issued instead of an arrest? The answer is no. No where in the Constitution or in the history of the Fourth Amendment or even in the 1791 Virginia statue can you incorporate statues, see A****er vs Lago Vista. I believe this argument is what defeated Mr Moore's argument. Mr Moore should have been arrested on drug charges not driving on a suspended license. The automobile excepiion would have been held Constitional if that was the case.

A 9-0 SCOTUS decision has been very rare the last teen years. And with the variety of Constitutional theories now on the Supreme Court, all judges saw this as it was.

ok Hudson

this i will agree with.

The arrest should have been for the drugs. not auto related.

But then again... What would have been the excuse to do drug search.. It would have had to have been fabricated.

OPEC stimulus package begins early



Bush says rebates going out Monday will boost economy

By TOM RAUM,AP
Posted: 2008-04-25 13:36:26
WASHINGTON (AP) -

President Bush said tax rebates will start going out Monday, earlier than previously announced, and should help Americans cope with rising gasoline and food prices, as well as aid a slumping economy.

Democrats said they were glad the rebate checks were about to go out, but suggested that multinational oil companies were not among the businesses the stimulus package was originally designed to help.

"Starting Monday, the effects of the stimulus will begin to reach millions of households across our country," Bush said Friday in remarks on the South Lawn of the White House.

Those first rebates will be directly deposited into people's bank accounts. The Internal Revenue Service had been saying direct deposits wouldn't start until next Friday. Bush said paper checks would begin going out on May 9, a week earlier than previously announced.

"The money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we're seeing at the gas pump, the grocery store, and also give our economy a boost to help us pull out of this economic slowdown," Bush said.

Bush's emphasis on fuel and food prices differed from other comments he's made since signing the economic stimulus legislation, intended to aid the economy by boosting overall consumer spending - which accounts for roughly two-thirds of the nation's economic activity.

Bush has suggested the rebates could trigger a spending spree. "When the money reaches the American people, we expect they will use it to boost consumer spending," he said last month.

By saying expressly that people could use these one-time checks to pay for such necessities as food and gas, Bush underscored the deepening challenges facing the economy.

Democrats were quick to pick up on the change of focus.

"It's galling to think that taxpayers' stimulus checks will be lining the pockets of OPEC. The sad truth is that the average American family will spend almost their entire stimulus check on higher gas prices this year," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.

OPEC is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"Unless the administration gets OPEC to increase oil supply, American consumers are going to be in for a scorching summer of $4 gasoline with no relief in sight," Schumer said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed that people "need this rebate to cope with the rising cost of gas and groceries." She said that, while the rebates would help to get the economy moving, there was a need for a second stimulus package "and we have begun some conversation with the administration and Republicans."

As he had earlier in the week, Bush used the word "slowdown" to describe the state of the economy. He has denied that the nation is in a recession, although many economists say it is.

"It's obvious our economy is in a slowdown. But, fortunately, we recognized the signs early and took action," Bush said.

The rebates - up to $600 for an individual, $1,200 for a couple and an additional $300 for each dependent child - are the centerpiece of the government's $168 billion stimulus package, enacted in February. Roughly 130 million households are expected to get them.

Bush made the comments before boarding his helicopter at the start of a day trip to Connecticut.

People must file a tax return for their 2007 income to be eligible for a rebate check.

The IRS now says all checks for those who filed tax returns on time are scheduled to be deposited or mailed by July 11.

The economy - burdened by the collapse of home prices, a financial and credit crisis, and now rising energy and food prices - grew at an anemic 0.6 percent in the final three months of last year and is believed to have gotten even weaker in the first three months of this year.

The government will report on the first quarter's performance next week.

With the economy faltering, the nation's unemployment rate has climbed to 5.1 percent, the highest since September 2005, when it suffered from the devastating blows of the Gulf Coast hurricanes. Job losses in the first three months of this year neared the quarter-million mark.

Foreclosures have surged to record highs and financial companies have taken multibillion losses on mortgage investments that soured. The situation has sent a tremor through Wall Street and has sent the administration, Congress and presidential contenders looking for ways to provide relief.

Well someone12... See TWITTERING can be good sometimes


Student 'Twitters' his way out of
Eg yptian Jail


James Karl Buck helped free himself from an Egyptian jail with a one-word blog post from his cell phone.


James Karl Buck sent a message using Twitter which helped get him out of an Egyptian jail.

Buck, a graduate student from the University of California-Berkeley, was in Mahalla, Egypt, covering an anti-government protest when he and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested April 10.

On his way to the police station, Buck took out his cell phone and sent a message to his friends and contacts using the micro-blogging site Twitter.

The message only had one word. "Arrested."

Within seconds, colleagues in the United States and his blogger-friends in Egypt -- the same ones who had taught him the tool only a week earlier -- were alerted that he was being held.

Twitter is a social-networking blog site that allows users to send status updates, or "tweets," from cell phones, instant messaging services and Facebook in less than 140 characters.

Hossam el-Hamalawy, a Cairo-based blogger at UC-Berkeley, was one of the people who got word of Buck's arrest.

"At first I was worried about his safety," el-Hamalawy said.

Then, el-Hamalawy took to the Web and wrote regular updates in his own blog to spread the information Buck was sending by Twitter. Nobody was sure how long Buck would be able to communicate. See Buck describe what he saw and captured on film during the protests »

Don't Miss
James Karl Buck's Twitter page
Buck's Web site, statement and petition
But Buck was able to send updates every couple of hours saying he was still detained, he had spoken to the prosecutor, he still had not been charged, and he was worried about Maree.

"Usually the first thing the police go for is the detainees' cameras and cellular phones," el-Hamalawy said. "I'm surprised they left James with his phone."

Twitter is normally used to keep groups of people connected in less urgent situations. Watch how Twitter works »

But Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, said he and others knew that the service could have wide-reaching effects early on, when the San-Francisco, California-based company used it to communicate during earthquakes.

Stone said that as the service got more popular, they began to hear stories of people using Twitter during natural disasters with a focus on activism and journalism.

Buck's urgent message is proof of the value of Twitter, Stone said. Buck's entry set off a chain of events that led to his college hiring a lawyer on his behalf.

"James' case is particularly compelling to us because of the simplicity of his message -- one word, 'arrested' -- and the speed with which the whole scene played out," Stone said. "It highlights the simplicity and value of a real-time communication network that follows you wherever you go."

Initially, the Twitter message was a precaution -- something people could trace in case anything went wrong, Buck said.

"The most important thing on my mind was to let someone know where we were so that there would be some record of it ... so we couldn't [disappear]," Buck said. "As long as someone knew where we were, I felt like they couldn't do their worst [to us] because someone, at some point, would be checking in on them."

Buck began using Twitter as a way to keep up in touch with the bloggers at the heart of his project and the events going on in Egypt that he intended to cover. Buck was working on a multimedia project on Egypt's "new leftists and the blogosphere" as part of his master's degree thesis.

Buck found out from a Twitter message that a planned protest against rising food prices and decreasing wages in Mahalla had been shut down by Egyptian authorities April 6.

The next day, tensions rose as family and friends of protesters who had been detained took to the streets, eventually throwing Molotov cocktails and setting tires on fire, he said.

On April 10, Buck returned to Mahalla, where protests continued.

"I was worried about getting arrested, so I made sure to stay at a distance from the protest so there was no way I could be accused of being part of it," Buck said. "Mohammed and I had a bad sense; it was really tense."

When the men tried to escape, they were detained. That's when Buck thought of Twitter and sent out his message.

Buck and Maree were interrogated, released and then detained again by the same police officers.

"We are really worried that we are off the radar now," Buck said.

Eventually Buck was released, but Maree was transferred to another police station.

As he left the station, Buck reached into his pocket, as he did less than 24 hours earlier.

Another one-word blog entry said it all: "Free."

As happy as he was to be free, Buck said, his biggest frustration was leaving behind the translator who helped protect him during the riots.

Although the Twitter message helped him find contacts to get out of prison, he says it was more the power of the network he had as an American that enabled him to be released so quickly.

"Mohammed was sitting next to me," he said. "But he didn't have the network to call. I tried to use my network to shield him until they tore us apart."

Twitter may not have been able to secure Maree's release, but Buck hopes his initial reason for using Twitter will help find his missing friend.

"It was my big hope that people would get [the message] right away and at least put a thumbtack on the map as far as our location," Buck said.

There has been no official confirmation regarding Maree's whereabouts.

Attiya Shakran, press counsel for the Egyptian Consulate in San Francisco, said Maree was released April 13.

Maree's brother Ahmed Maree said that he had not heard from his brother and that he believes he is still in jail.

Government officials in Egypt could neither confirm nor deny Maree's release, despite repeated requests for comment.


Buck is now using his story and Twitter page as a way to rally people looking for answers about Maree's status. He's gone as far as publishing the phone number of the press counsel of the Egyptian Consulate in San Francisco and posting a petition for Maree's release.

For Buck, the main story is no longer about his quest for freedom from jail; it's a quest to find answers and, eventually, find his friend.


story link cnn

Austrians shocked over latest "horror house"

By Sylvia Westall Reuters - 27th April 2008

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrians expressed shock and horror on Monday after police arrested a 73-year-old man they say imprisoned and abused his daughter in a windowless basement for 24 years and fathered seven children with her.


Police said on Sunday the woman, identified as 42-year-old Elisabeth F, told them her father Josef lured her into the basement of the block where they lived in the town of Amstetten in 1984, and drugged and handcuffed her before imprisoning her.

Three of her children were locked up since birth in the basement of the drab, grey building along with their mother and had never seen sunlight or received any education, police said.

The case unfolded when a 19-year-old girl -- the oldest of the three -- became seriously ill and was hospitalised.

Doctors appealed for the girl's mother, who was believed to have disappeared, to come forward to provide more details about her medical history.

Josef then brought Elisabeth and her remaining two children out of the basement, telling his wife that their "missing" daughter had chosen to return home, police said.

Elisabeth agreed to make a "comprehensive statement" detailing her ordeal to the police after being assured she would have no further contact with her father, who she said abused her from the age of 11.

"This is not a mother abandoning her child which then had to be admitted to hospital in a serious condition," Franz Polzer, head of the criminal investigations unit in the province of Lower Austria, told broadcaster ORF.

"We know that she herself has been kept imprisoned by her own father for 24 years in the basement and furthermore she obviously was also subjected to sexual abuse."

Newspaper headlines called the case the "crime of a monster" and the "worst crime of all times" and stories questioned authorities and residents of Amstetten, 130 km (80 miles) west of Vienna, for failing to notice "the martyrdom in the horror house" under their feet.

SHAME

The case was the more shocking because it was reminiscent of that of Austrian Natascha Kampusch who spent eight years locked up in a windowless cell before escaping in August 2006.

"The community of Amstetten, including its population, should drown in shame. ... Just like in Strasshofen with Mr Priklopil (the man who kidnapped Kampusch). The neighbours are very thoroughly looking away," the Oesterreich newspaper wrote in an editorial.

"Obviously it was more convenient to look away from the neglected house then questioning its fabulous inhabitant of what he was doing behind his walls," it added.

The daily Der Standard wrote: "The whole country must ask itself just what is really, fundamentally going wrong."

Josef's wife Rosemarie had been unaware of what happened to her daughter when she disappeared in 1984 and it was assumed Elisabeth had left voluntarily when her parents received a letter from her saying they should not search for her.

But all the while Elisabeth was being held in what Polzer described as a sophisticated network of chambers with facilities for sleeping, cooking and washing.

Elisabeth gave birth to seven children, one of whom died shortly after being born, police said.

Three of the younger children were brought up by Josef and his wife after they were left at the building where the couple lived. The first child was accompanied by a note from Elisabeth saying she was unable to care for the baby herself.

Three others, including the two eldest aged 18 and 19, and the youngest, aged 5, had been locked up in the basement with their mother since birth.

After Elisabeth and her children emerged, Josef, an electrical engineering technician by training, told investigators how to enter their basement prison through a hidden door operated by secret code, police said.

"There was a shelf with plenty of cans and containers, and behind the shelf was a door made of reinforced concrete, secured electronically and running on steel rails, and only the suspect knew the code," said local official Heinz Lenze.

Authorities were still searching the cellar early on Monday, the Austrian press agency APA reported, adding that some of the rooms were no more than 1.70 metres (5 ft 6 in) high.

Rosemarie, as well as Elisabeth and her children, were receiving psychological counselling. DNA samples of all those involved were taken and would be analysed, police said.

(Writing by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Mary Gabriel)

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080428/tts-uk-austria-abuse-62c696a.html