Sony Music singer Lauryn Hill, was sentenced to 3-months house arrest and 9 months supervised release for deliberately failing to pay taxes on millions of dollars in income.
Considering the gravity of the tax crime, that was a relatively light sentence.
Actor Wesley Snipes was sentenced to 5-years in prison for not paying taxes on millions of dollars in income for over a decade. However, he provoked the government telling them lines from his movies such as "always bet on black" in challenging their case against him. When I read he said that I giggled and thought to myself of Wesley, "You’re going to JAILLLLLLL!" What did you tell them that for. However, in other ways his sentence is also just, as he beat ex-girlfriend Halle Berry and made her deaf in one ear, which must have been devastating for her. Snipes was released last month after serving over 3-years on his sentence.
Only fight the government in court when you are in the right, not in the wrong. And tax evasion is being in the wrong, as it is a crime. Hill was honest with the court, admitting what she’d done. She also equated her recording career at Sony to "slavery." At the end of the day, she knew she had to pay her taxes. She needs to be thankful they did not put her in jail and for years.
Source: http://www.zimbio.com