SNIPES APPEALS TAX CONVICTION: Says 3-year sentence 'unreasonable.'

     Attorneys for the star of the "Blade" trilogy and other films also argued the actor should have been granted a hearing to decide whether his trial should have been in New York instead of Florida.

     Prosecutors countered that Snipes, 47, had plenty of time to appeal to move the case to New York in a timely manner before he was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file his income tax returns. Besides, they contended, housing records showed he lived in Florida as well as New York.

     The three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta issued no immediate decision.

     Snipes was sentenced in April 2008 in what was considered a key victory for prosecutors who aggressively pursued the maximum penalty to deter others from trying to obstruct the IRS. They say he made at least $13.8 million for the years in question and owed $2.7 million in back taxes that he refused to pay.

     For more of the AP article by Greg Bluestein, go HERE.