Don't Mess With Taxes

Wesley Snipes says he needs to leave the country again, this time to work on movies in Africa and Europe.

Federal prosecutors, however, say that the last time the court let Snipes use his passport, the actor used it to head to a major party instead of a movie set.

"Defendant Snipes abused the Court's trust, and did so in a very public way. For that reason alone, the Court should deny his current request for international travel," Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill wrote in his motion filed with the U.S. District Court in Ocala, Florida.

In addition, O'Neill argued that Namibia, one of the countries that Snipes now wants to work, "has become known as a haven for international fugitives." The other movie location to which Snipes wants to travel is Torino, Italy.

Last summer, Senior U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges granted Snipes' request to travel abroad to work on a couple of movies. The court's approval was necessary because Snipes was convicted in February 2008 of three misdemeanor tax charges. He is free on bail while appealing the conviction.

Snipes did follow through on the overseas film work as promised. But he also dropped by a $20 million party in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. As a result of the Dubai detour, a grand opening party for a luxury hotel, Snipes had to surrender his passport.

The Smoking Gun reports that one of the paparazzi photos from that bash was included as an exhibit to the government filing. It also has posted an excerpt of the government motion opposing Snipes' latest travel request.