Actor Wesley Snipes was acquitted of federal tax fraud and conspiracy charges in Ocala, Fla., Friday afternoon, but a jury convicted him on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return, meaning he still faces up to three years in jail. The 45-year-old action star was indicted in 2006 (along with two co-defendants, Douglas P. Rosile, a de-licensed accountant and Eddie Ray Kahn, a tax protest leader) on six counts of failing to file a tax return from 1999-2004, but was only convicted on half of those charges. He had originally faced up to 16 years in prison, based on the charges. Both Rosile and Kahn were convicted by the same jury of both tax fraud and conspiracy. Wesley’s defense had been based on a protest argument that essentially suggested that the government had no legal right to tax his earnings.

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