RONALD ISLEY - ISLEY CONVICTED OF TAX EVASION

LATEST: R+B legend RONALD ISLEY faces up to 26 years in prison after he was convicted of tax evasion in a Los Angeles federal court yesterday (31OCT05).

The SUMMER BREEZE hitmaker, 64, was found guilty of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file a tax return after a day and half of deliberating by the jury.

During the three-week trial, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said the ISLEY BROTHERS star had asked be paid in cash for performances between 1997 and 2002, which earned him an income of $12 million (GBP6.6 million).

Evidence presented in court claimed Isley had hidden various homes and a yacht under the name of his ex-wife and cashed royalty cheques belonging to his late bandmate and brother O'KELLY ISLEY, who died in 1986.

Isley, who pleaded not guilty to the charges in January (05), will return to court in the new year (09JAN06) for sentencing by US District Judge DEAN PREGERSON.