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No Miracle for Wesley Snipes
With his Hollywood prospects fading out and serious tax-dodging charges looming over him, Wesley Snipes could use a miracle about now.
But it ain't happening.
The actor was forced to drop out of a potentially career-rejuvenating role in Spike Lee's latest joint, the World War II drama Miracle at St. Anna. Snipes was unable to commit to shooting the film in Italy due to his pending trial on a litany of tax-evading charges.
Snipes, 45, is accused of attempting to swindle the Internal Revenue Service out of $12 million in fraudulent refunds in 1996 and 1997, and not filing any returns from 1999 to 2004.
The tax-fraud case is scheduled to go to trial Oct. 22, about the same time Lee is set to roll cameras.
"It doesn't appear that the trial is going to be moved," said Steve Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney in Tampa, whose office filed the charges.
The film would've been Snipes' third with Lee, following pivotal supporting turns in 1990's Mo' Better Blues and 1991's Jungle Fever. This time around, Snipes had a lead role that may have reversed his downward career trajectory—the Blade star's most recent work has been in direct-to-DVD clunkers.
Per Variety, Snipes' loss is Derek Luke's gain. The actor, whose big break came as the title character in Denzel Washington's 2002 directorial debut, Antwone Fisher, will take over the role of one of four G.I.'s in the U.S. Army's all-black 92nd Infantry Division, otherwise known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Trapped behind German lines in a Tuscan village, the soldiers must contend with racism, even from their fellow Americans.
Luke joins an ensemble that includes Lee regular John Turturro, as well as James Gandolfini, Omar Benson, Naomi Campbell, Laz Alonso and Valentina Cervi.
Snipes was indicted last October along with two alleged coconspirators, Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile. They ran American Rights Litigators, a Florida accounting firm purportedly specializing in circumventing the IRS.
At the time, the actor was in Africa shooting a horror film called Gallowwalker and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He eventually worked out a deal to surrender to federal authorities and pleaded not guilty to all charges last December.
He was subsequently released on $1 million bond and allowed to return to Namibia to finish production on Gallowwalker. Snipes, however, encountered difficulties reentering Africa to complete the job.
After he completed the film, a U.S. magistrate ordered Snipes to hand in his passport. (Cole could not immediately confirm whether Snipes had surrendered his passport.)
Calls to Snipes' attorney, Billy Martin, seeking clarification on the passport issue were not returned.
A routine status hearing in the case is set for late Tuesday.
Snipes is seeking to have all the charges dismissed. His legal team has filed a petition with a federal judge seeking to have the eight-count indictment tossed on the grounds that he's a victim of selective prosecution because of his race.
If found guilty of the federal charges, Snipes could face up to 16 years in prison.
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