Wesley Snipes commented, “I’m very sorry for my mistakes and errors. I apologize to my family, the court and the community. I’ve asked the court to show me mercy and the opportunity to make things right.”

Wesley Snipes was convicted in February on three counts of failing to file a tax return (from 1999 through 2001) — today he received 12 months of prison for each count. Prosecutors say that Wesley Snipes owes $41 million in taxes.

Wesley Snipes was found guilty of three misdemeanors for not filing tax returns for three years. He was cleared on the more serious charges including conspiracy to defraud, but could still spend up to three years in prison. Originally, he had a potential sentence of sixteen years if he’d been convicted of all charges. While the U.S. Attorney had thought there was evidence for conviction on all charges, the jury felt differently.

If you didn’t already know, action star Wesley Snipes (Blade, Blade II, Blade: Trinity, Passenger 57, Murder at 1600) is in a whole lotta trouble for not paying income taxes on about US$58M, spanning several years. His lawyers are saying that he should simply have to pay up what he owes instead of having a trial since, that he was poorly advised by his co-defendants, and that he had no intention of defrauding.

Snipes’ case is apparently one of the biggest in US tax history and if he does go to trial, he could go away for quite some time. That means, no more Blade sequels, no more movies for years. Well I loved Blade and hope he pays his dues and avoids jail time. (Since Blade: Trinity, the man has been doing a lot of straight-to-video work, but he’ll appear in in the zombie flick Gallowwalker in 2009, which has already completed production.)