Hard Luck as Wesley Snipes begins jail term

Actor Wesley Snipes reported on Thursday to a federal prison in northwest Pennsylvania to begin serving a 3-year sentence on tax charges, a prison official said.

The star of the "Blade" action movies, who was convicted in 2008 in Florida, arrived at Federal Correction Institution McKean in Lewis Run, Pennsylvania, shortly before noon, said Ed Ross, a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman.

"He surrendered a short time ago and is now inside the facility," Ross said. "He'll go through an orientation process and will begin serving his sentence."

Snipes, 48, was convicted in an Ocala, Florida court for willful failure to file tax returns from 1999 through 2001.

Each of the misdemeanor counts carried a maximum one-year prison term. He was found not guilty on five other counts.

Snipes' attorney, Daniel Meachum, has said he believes the case contains irregularities, and he plans to file legal documents seeking a review.

During a recent appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live," Meachum said he appealed a Florida judge's denial of a new trial and the judge's failure to interview a juror who has said Snipes was convicted despite reservations by some members of the jury.

McKean, 90 miles south of Buffalo, New York, is a medium-security facility for men with an adjacent satellite prison camp for minimum security male inmates, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.