Actor Wesley Snipes won’t be leaving home with his American Express card anytime soon — primarily because he’s currently sitting in the slammer — and that’s probably a good thing.
Snipes was slapped with a lawsuit in Orange County, Fla. on Friday by American Express, which claims that he racked up a $29,343 bill with them while he was still walking free.
American Express is seeking that amount, plus interest, attorney fees and court costs.
Snipes began a 3-year prison sentence at Pennsylvania’s McKean Federal Correction Institution in December 2010 for failing to file tax returns. Wesley, 49, used a number of tactics in an effort to establish his innocence, including the invocation of the “861 argument” which theorizes that U.S. residents’ domestic income isn’t taxable, and a claim that he’s a “non-resident alien.”
In truth, Wesley Snipes was born in Orlando, Fla.