Ronald Isley gets 3 years in prison for tax evasion

Post by **tamra** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 11:35 am

this is a shame this couldn't be avoided. and sad that his health has deteriorated.

The Isleys are music icons. half us wouldn't have been made if not for their slow jams.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/0 ... index.html - cnn.com story'

[Font size=3 face=v color=Green] R&B singer Isley gets 3 years in prison

POSTED: 10:17 a.m. EDT, September 5, 2006

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Ronald Isley has been sentenced to three years and one month in prison for tax evasion.

The 65-year-old R&B singer was also ordered to pay $3.1 million in back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Conte.

Isley was convicted last year of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file a tax return.

During Friday's hearing, defense attorney Anthony Alexander argued that Isley should receive probation instead of prison time because of complications from a stroke and a recent bout with kidney cancer.

Alexander also pleaded for leniency because Isley had been attempting to pay down his IRS debt.

"He's been liquidating assets, he's been doing the things that he can," Alexander said.

But U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson declined to sentence Isley to less time than called for under federal guidelines.

"The term serial tax avoider has been used. I think that's appropriate," Pregerson said.

During the trial, prosecutors said Isley, lead singer of The Isley Brothers, avoided paying taxes numerous times in the past three decades and declared bankruptcy after the IRS seized his yacht, cars and other property in 1997.

He was discharged from bankruptcy four years later, but then did not file tax returns for the years 1997 to 2001 and in 2002 did not sign his return and failed to pay all taxes due.

Alexander argued during the trial that "unfortunate circumstances" such as the deaths of two of Isley's accountants made him unable to get records together and pay taxes during the years that led to the criminal charges.

Isley's recent albums include a 2003 collaboration with Burt Bacharach titled "Here I Am" and The Isley Brothers album "Baby Makin' Music." The group's hits include "It's Your Thing" and "That Lady."

He was expected to be sent to a Bureau of Prisons hospital facility.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press . All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.[/font]

YouTube · Post by **bingolong** » Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:09 pm

tamra,
sad.....

Post by **tis2flyyy** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 7:11 am

tamra,

. Damn, the Mr Big is going out like Mr. Broke. Not good, not good at all. Didn't he also suffer from a stroke not too long ago? & Didn't his long time wife, Angela Winbush also divoirce him, not too long ago?

& Why did R Kelly help hime out. Ron stood by him through all of that sex tape stuff. See, that is how people are.

Post by **dougdigitalpro** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 4:04 pm

tis2flyyy,
When the hell did all this go down? He just released a new album and recently got married! Man, this is a damn shame! And where was the pee pee man during all of this? I knew Ron had been riding high for too long. I just felt someone would knock him off of his perch sooner or later.
Another black celebrity bites the dust. Somebody could've helped him and avoided the man going to jail, damn! A living legend goes down in a ball of flames and the world goes a little bit darker for it.

Post by **tamra** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:22 am

dougdigitalpro & tis2flyyy,

apparently, this isn't the first time he neglected paying taxes which is why a sentence was mandatory, even after agreeing to a financial settlement.

and ooooh yes, forgot about Mr. Piss man.

you'd think R Kelly would have been front and center throughout Ronald Isley's entire court ordeal.

my concern for Isley or anyone in his position: having to serve his time in a prison hospital with less security and substandard medical conditions. not only will he be subject to extortion, but will be easier to access for those w/ill intentions towards him. not to mention, how good will the healthcare service he'll receive be. his comfort will not be a prison priority. it's a prison first.

unfortunate situation for a victimless crime.

Post by **tis2flyyy** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:39 pm

tamra,
Thanks for the 411. But on the real, his ass is too old to be going to jail. Sad stuff.

Post by **Murphdogg** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 3:22 pm

tis2flyyy, going to jail for this is barbaric, it's like debtors prison in England, and it happens to so many entertainers, it's like a conspiracy.

Post by **Appaloosa** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:13 am

tamra,
i do know that a lot of entertainers and even sports figures have picked the wrong person to be their accountant.......i think the accountants get away clean away.......with all the money an then when the sheeeet is found out years later it is too late to prosecute the accountants so they prosecute the person...........i mean to finnagle their way into the life of someone then steal every penny they made an then go off to do it to someone else.......even then if they had a lawyer an they told them to do this and that.....hell rich people do it all the time an thats how some people stay rich......spending other peoples money......the man is an icon........Whos That Lady.........everytime that song came on i seen people singin or dancing.......i remember the late great Joe Louis who had a bad accountant .....owed millions to the tax department.....he did exhibitions for the army and never took a penny for those but they made several hundred thousand off each one......an he did a few.....an he never asked for a penny of it ........but it didnt matter the tax people still took him for everything he got........talk about cold people

Post by **tamra** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:41 pm

Appaloosa,

that Joe Louis situation was beyond heartbreaking. I would have thought every black person in America would have chipped in a dollar or two to save someone who inspired them during a time when we had little or no rights. but then again someone would have mismanaged that too.

thank God Max Schmelling bailed him out and allowed Joe Louis a decent burial.

but that list of celebs and mismanagement goes on: Dorothy Dandridge, Redd Foxx, etc. and you can't blame it on strangers either, look at MC Hammer and Gary Coleman's family mismanagement.

all I know is if you didn't manage my finances before hitting it big, you ain't managing it afterwards.

I'm sure there has to be a way for the accountant, if trusted, to go hand-in-hand-cuff to jail together. I find that hard to believe. but it's called hustling and greed!

Post by **Appaloosa** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:29 pm

tamra,
yeah thats true about Louis...... i remember Schmeling sayin that you had to beat Louis early cause you could not take gettin hit ten to fifteen times a round by Louis......good on the money hits.....or you would go down....an Schmeling never liked the regime he was under an left for the US an treated Louis like a freind.....///....i remember footage of Red Foxx on the local news about when the tax people came to his house an started seeing how much things were an started taking things an he asked for help on tv while it was goin on but no one .......and i mean no one came to his help....that was very sad to see....the enjoyment he gave millions with a hit show.....i know that if i ever partied with someone i would have liked to party with Fred Sanford.....he could make you laugh n he could make you cry...