April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Wesley Snipes, convicted of failing to file income taxes, was given the maximum three-year prison sentence by a judge who wasn't convinced that probation was enough punishment for the action-movie star.

``These are serious crimes, albeit misdemeanors, because he has a history of contempt over time,'' U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges in Ocala, Florida, said yesterday.

Snipes, 45, was found guilty Feb. 1 on three misdemeanor counts. Hodges imposed a one-year term for each charge, to be served consecutively. The actor also must settle all tax obligations, the judge said.

Snipes, in refusing to pay taxes, followed tactics employed by so-called tax deniers, the government said. Such people claim the law doesn't require U.S. citizens to pay income tax, often relying on century-old Supreme Court cases and repudiated legal theories to make their case. The Justice Department earlier this year began a nationwide crackdown against the movement, pledging to target tax deniers with criminal and civil cases.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Nathan Hochman told the court that Snipes's was the first case to be sentenced since the tax-denier initiative took effect.

His sentencing ``sends a strong message that if you engage in tax defiance, there will be very serious repercussions,'' Hochman said.

The actor's lawyers said they will file an appeal.

``I am very sorry for my mistakes and errors,'' Snipes told the judge yesterday. ``As I was sitting here today, a street saying came to mind -- more money, more problems.''

Refund Claim

Prosecutors estimated that Snipes failed to pay $15.6 million in income taxes over six years. He hid millions of dollars in offshore accounts and threatened U.S. government employees, including one who rejected a $4 million refund claim as frivolous, the government said in court papers.

The actor's defense lawyers urged the judge to sentence him to probation. He is ``not a dangerous man'' and has lived an ``otherwise lawful life,'' his lawyers said in court papers. They said Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington had written a letter to the court calling Snipes a longtime friend who lived a principled life built on ``honesty, truth and courage.''

Prosecutors, in seeking the maximum sentence, argued that Snipes's acquittal on more serious felony charges created a public perception that the actor beat the rap.

The actor, best known for action roles in movies like ``Blade'' and ``U.S. Marshals,'' was acquitted at his trial of two felony charges of conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service as well as three other misdemeanor counts of not filing taxes.

16th Amendment

Tax protesters rely on a range of legal theories, including that the Constitution's 16th Amendment giving Congress power to ``lay and collect taxes on incomes'' wasn't properly ratified.

They cite an 1895 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that struck down a federal tax -- a ruling that predated the 16th amendment. The protesters also claim that paying federal taxes is voluntary, that wages aren't legal income or that foreign, but not domestic, income is taxable. Those arguments have been rejected by courts.

``The law is very clear: people must pay their taxes,'' IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman said in a statement yesterday.

Hodges sentenced Snipes's co-defendant Eddie Ray Kahn of Sorrento, Florida, who operated what prosecutors called a ``tax- fraud mill,'' to 10 years' imprisonment. Douglas Rosile of Venice, Florida, an accountant whose license was revoked in two states, received a four and 1/2-year sentence.

The case is U.S. v. Snipes, 06-22, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, Ocala Division.

To contact the reporters on this story: Doris Bloodsworth in federal court in Ocala, Florida at dorisbloods@earthlink.net; Robert Schmidt in Washington at rschmidt5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 25, 2008 00:01 EDT