WESLEY SNIPES - PROSECUTORS RECOMMEND 3 YEARS IN JAIL FOR WESLEY SNIPES

PROSECUTORS RECOMMEND 3 YEARS IN JAIL FOR WESLEY SNIPES

Prosecutors in the US have recommended that actor Wesley Snipes be sentenced to three years in prison.

They also called for the Blade star to be fined $5 million (£2.55 million) after he was convicted in February for failing to submit tax returns.

US attorney Robert O'Neill called for Snipes to be handed the maximum penalty for his crime, after a "brazen defiance" of US tax laws.

The prosecutors' recommendation was filed to the court on Monday and released today.

"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 crime nationwide," Mr O'Neil said.

Snipes and two others had originally been charged with six counts of failing to submit tax returns as well as two charges of fraudulently claiming tax refunds and conspiracy to defraud the government.

The actor has just completed an Andrew Goth film entitled Gallowwalker, due for release next year.