Wesley Snipes gets 3 years for tax convictions

The  Feds brought down Blade Thursday.

Wesley Snipes, whose karate-chopping, vampire-killing film character always came out on top, got a three-year sentence - the max - for willfully failing to file tax returns.

Florida federal Judge Terrell Hodges threw the book at the 45-year-old action star despite three dozen letters from friends, relatives and fellow actors, including Woody Harrelson and Denzel Washington, attesting to his good character.

The judge also ignored a plea from Snipes' lawyers to keep the twice-divorced father of five - ages 1 to 19 - out of jail for the sake of his kids.

"The youngest will cry themselves to sleep, not understanding why their father is no longer there to love them," they said.

But prosecutors said Snipes' long sentence "should send a loud and crystal-clear message to all tax defiers."

They said he tried to conceal $41 million in offshore accounts, falsely applied for tax refunds and bombarded the IRS with frivolous correspondence.

Prosecutors said Snipes failed to pay $15.6 million in income taxes over six years.

"If ever a tax offender was deserving of being held accountable to the maximum extent for his criminal wrongdoing, Snipes is that defendant," prosecutor Robert O'Neill said.

The actor read a statement, apologizing for his "costly mistakes," but never mentioned taxes.

"I am an idealistic, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritually motivated artist, unschooled in the science of law and finance," Snipes said.

Snipes' co-defendants Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas Rosile were sentenced respectively to 10 years, and four years and six months.

Khan is founder and leader of American Rights Litigators, a Florida tax protester group, and Rosile prepared returns for ARL clients, such as Snipes.

In addition to the "Blade" series, Snipes, who was born in Florida and raised in the Bronx, appeared in more than 50 films, including "White Men Can't Jump," "Jungle Fever" and "Passenger 57."

NYDAILYNEWS.COM