WESLEY SNIPES - SNIPES FACING INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL BAN

SNIPES FACING INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL BAN

Shamed actor WESLEY SNIPES could be restricted from travelling abroad after he attended a lavish party in Dubai in November (08) while appealing a tax conviction.
The Blade star was handed a three-year prison sentence for tax evasion last year (08) after officials found him guilty of failing to file taxes for five years.
He is currently free on a $1 million (£700,000) bond pending an appeal.
While waiting for the outcome of the appeal, Snipes has been allowed to travel abroad for work commitments - with a federal judge ruling the star could fly to London and Bangkok, Thailand to work on movies Gallowwalker and Chasing The Dragon.
Snipes has now asked for permission to travel to Namibia to reshoot scenes for Gallowwalker and then to Italy to film a new action movie.
But prosecutors in Florida are requesting a judge ban him from travelling internationally - because he was snapped attending an "unauthorised" $20 million (£14 million) party in Dubai for the opening of the Atlantis Hotel resort.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said in court papers filed in Ocala, Florida on Tuesday (24Mar09): "Defendant Snipes abused the Court's trust, and did so in a very public way. For that reason alone, the Court should deny his current request for international travel."
The federal prosecutors also requested that Snipes' bond be revoked pending the appeal.