Judge denies Snipes' requests

By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published September 14, 2007

OCALA - A federal judge has denied actor Wesley Snipes' request to move his tax fraud trial from Ocala to New York City.

Senior U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges also denied Snipes' requests to have his trial separate from two co-defendants.

Prosecutors say Snipes tried to defraud the government of more than $11-million in income taxes. He has pleaded not guilty.

Hodges, who presides over cases at the federal courthouse in Ocala, issued his ruling last week.

Snipes says in court papers that it would be easier for his attorneys in Atlanta and Miami to fly to New York for court proceedings than a courthouse in Ocala.

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