Wesley Snipes Sentenced for Three Years; 911 Calls
BROOKE ANDERSON, HOST: Shocking news, Wesley Snipes sent to prison for not paying his taxes. Plus, news breaks that Star Jones is getting divorced. The boom, she announced that she`s coming back to TV. Do you think that`s a little fishy? I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now. On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, rescue 911. Tonight, the brand new dramatic 911 calls connected to even more dramatic stories. A deadly bear attack with a disturbing connection to Will Ferrel.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think it`s an animal attack.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, a bear attack.</s>ANDERSON: One of the most famous sport stars flipped a date rape drug.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got a lady who thinks she had some medication slipped into her drink in a bar.</s>ANDERSON: A blind man fights off a robber. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the real-life gripping 911 tapes you have to hear to believe. The fired up controversy over the women just named the sexiest in Hollywood. Is Hayden Panettiere really hotter than Angelina Jolie? Lindsay Lohan more luscious than Beyonce? Is Britney Spears really the least sexy? Plus, you won`t believe the foxy lady named the sexiest of them all. Plus, who are the richest kids in Hollywood. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT reveals who makes $1 million dollars a week? Hi there, everybody. I`m Brooke Anderson, coming to you from Hollywood. A.J. Hammer is off tonight. And tonight, something so ridiculous we could hardly believe it ourselves. We learned today that no less than 85,000 people have officially applied to be Paris Hilton`s new best friend. But why? Are they nuts? That`s straight ahead. But first, rescue 911. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is bringing you brand new and amazing star-related dramatic stories all caught on tape. 911 emergency calls that we just obtained from a deadly bear attack to a famous skating star allegedly drugged. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT brings you the stories and the tapes you won`t soon forget.</s>ALAN KIETA, BLIND MAN WHO CAUGHT AN INTRUDER: If I let him go, he`s going to kill me.</s>ANDERSON: They are the most incredible, talked about stories of the week. And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you each story of these stories is brought to life by the incredible 911 calls.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We think it`s an animal attack.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, a bear attack.</s>ANDERSON: It was a horrific attack at this exotic animal training center in California. It involved this 700-pound, 7-1/2 foot tall grisly who had tickled movie audiences by tangling with Will Farrell in the film, "Semi- Pro."</s>WILL FERRELL, ACTOR: You`re nothing but a dumb bear.</s>JO PIAZZA, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": The bear actor who starred with Will Ferrell in the movie, "Semi-Pro," actually turned on its trainer. It had at appeared to be licking its face, and then leaned over and bit him on the neck.</s>ANDERSON: The trainer was 39-year-old Stephan Miller who had reportedly been working with the bear for a commercial at the time of the attack. Listen to the desperate 911 call.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CALLER: He`s bleeding heavily from his neck. We`re trying to get him into the car. We need someone here immediately. 911</s>OPERATOR: OK. Is he conscious and breathing right now?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CALLER: Is he breathing? He`s breathing?</s>ANDERSON: The 911 operator talks the caller through first aid as they work together to try to save Stephan`s life. 911</s>OPERATOR: Is he doing OK?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CALLER: No. He`s really still. 911</s>OPERATOR: OK.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CALLER: Still has not regained consciousness. 911</s>OPERATOR: OK. As long as he`s breathing. We want to make sure he`s breathing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE CALLER: Still breathing. Hang on man. 911</s>OPERATOR: Good. You guys are doing good. I need you to stay calm.</s>ANDERSON: Sadly, Miller died ton scene. But Jo Piazza of the "New York Daily News tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT the 911 tape showed that the effort to save him was nothing short of heroic.</s>PIAZZA: Everyone in the situation is amazing because they all stayed so calm. It`s a horrific situation, but the 911 operator manages to talk everyone there down and gets the friend the help that he needed that could have saved his life.</s>ANDERSON: One of the biggest stars of the ice dancing world faced another scary situation. Gold medalist Pasha Grishuk was allegedly drugged at a hotel bar in California.</s>KATIE DARYL, TMZ TV: Pasha had ordered a glass of wine. She took a couple sips and left it unattended, came back, took a few more sips and realized there was something floating at the bottom of the glass, that there had actually been a pill put into her drink. She`s feeling dizzy. She`s feeling lightheaded, and she`s feeling sleepy.</s>ANDERSON: TMZ obtained the tape of the 911 call placed by a hotel security employee. 911</s>OPERATOR: What`s going on?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE CALLER: We got a lady who thinks she`s had some medication slipped into her drink in a bar. She didn`t drink it all but she has a pill and she wants someone to look at it. 911</s>OPERATOR: And she doesn`t need the paramedics?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE CALLER: No, I think just the assessment engine would do.</s>DARYL: They just wanted someone to come in and just kind of like do a check-over because they didn`t think it was that big of a concern. Well, later on, we found out it was GHB, that`s essentially the date rape drug.</s>ANDERSON: She was take to the hospital and later released. And police are investigating who tried to slip her a miky. A 911 call made by this Indianapolis man made him a media star. Alan Kieta woke up to find a suspected burglar in his room. He did the only thing he could think of. He fought back.</s>KIETA: We fought for - I don`t know - 30, 40 minutes. I don`t know. It was a long time.</s>ANDERSON: Oh, did we mention Kieta`s blind? Amazingly, he was able to subdue the suspected burglar using moves from his days as a high school wrestler. Kieta dragged him into the kitchen, grabbed a knife and held it to the intruders throat as he called 911. The "Today" show ran the 911 tape. Listen to how calm Kieta sounds.</s>KIETA: I have an intruder and right now I have him with a knife. 911</s>OPERATOR: Is trying to fight with you at all right now?</s>KIETA: No, I`ve got the knife to his neck.</s>ANDERSON: The suspected burglar went to the hospital, and then to jail. Kieta went to the "Today" show.</s>MATT LAUER, CO-HOST, "TODAY" SHOW: Is it true that at some point he said, "Look, if you won`t kill me, I`ll actually dial the phone for you?"</s>KIETA: I think what it was I was getting frustrated, so my hand kept getting tighter and tighter on his neck.</s>ANDERSON: Stories of heroic effort, disgusting attack, and an amazing fight, all brought to life, incredibly on tape.</s>ANDERSON: All right, one of the biggest, most famous and best paid actors in Hollywood is going to prison because of what he didn`t pay - his federal income taxes. Late in the day, a judge hit Wesley Snipes harder than he`s ever been hit in the movies, sentencing Snipes to three years in prison and ordering him to pay a fine of up to $5 million. With us tonight in New York, the host of "Hollywood Heat" on Tru TV, Ashleigh Banfield. Also in New York, CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin. All right, ladies. Two months ago, a Florida jury found Wesley Snipes guilty of failing to file federal tax returns from 1999 to 2001 and avoiding $15 million in taxes. Sunny Hostin, Snipes got the maximum he could get just as you`ve been predicting. Does the punishment here fit the crime?</s>SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It really, really does. And it was pretty easy to predict him in my view. If you look at the United States sentencing memorandum - the prosecutors` memorandum they sent to that judge, this judge followed it to the tee. They asked for three years; they got three years. They asked for a $5 million fine; they got a $5 million fine. These actions by Wesley Snipes were brazen. They were meant to defraud the IRS and the community. And the prosecutors in this case asked the judge to send a message. And I think that`s what people have to take away from this. You cannot avoid paying your taxes. You can`t try to defraud the government. If you do it, you`re going to pay the price which is jail time, just like Al Capone, just like Richard Hatch and now, just like Wesley Snipes.</s>ANDERSON: Yes. Don`t mess with the IRS. Ashleigh Banfield, what do you think? Three years - one for each year he didn`t file. Do you think the punishment also fits the crime here?</s>ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, "HOLLYWOOD HEAT": Well, I agree wholeheartedly with Sonny and the reality here is that he may have been convicted of misdemeanors. But if anybody out there thinks that you don`t do jail for a misdemeanors, you do. Typically, it`s up to a year for misdemeanor. These are three, all stacked on top of each other. And you know what else, Brooke? He could have faced 10 years if he had been convicted on the fraud and conspiracy charges. So you might consider Mr. Snipes kind of lucky at this point.</s>ANDERSON: Yes. He was acquitted of three identical counts and two felony charges of tax fraud and conspiracy. Now, his attorney just wanted probation for the misdemeanors. But we know that the prosecutors made it clear, as Sunny said, that they wanted to stick it to him big time. They called him, quote, "a truly notorious offender." Sunny, why were they so determined to make an example of him?</s>HOSTIN: Well, there`s been this big movement, this tax avoidance movement, where people are not filing their taxes. And I think the word out on the street in the community was the text that Wesley Snipes got off because, as Ashleigh said, he wasn`t convicted of these felony crimes. And that is the message that the judge sent, and that is the message that the prosecutors wanted to send. You did not get off. You got convicted of willfully failing to file your tax returns and those are crimes. Big crimes worth time.</s>ANDERSON: Ashleigh, does Wesley have any avenue of appeal to avoid prison?</s>BANFIELD: Well, I am imagining at this very moment that we are speaking his attorneys are combing over every single transcript from trial. Because, you know, you don`t just get an automatic appeal if you don`t t like the outcome of your trial. There has to be something during process that went awry. So you can bet that they are looking over everything that transpired during trial to see if any mistakes were made, if there is any appealable issue. And I would think that at this point, that`s exactly what he wants to do. Because this isn`t the kind of thing where he`s going to be put away pending the appeal. He`ll actually be free pending the appeal, most likely.</s>ANDERSON: You know, before today`s sentencing, nearly three dozen people wrote the judge asking for leniency, including some of Wesley`s powerful and most famous Hollywood buddies. Woody Harrelson praised Wesley for defusing a racial situation on the set of the first movie they did together some 20 years ago, writing, "Wes took the time to discuss and dissect the issue of racism. He strives for rightness in all his relations. And I realized early on what a true citizen of the world Wes is. It is an honor to call Wes my brother." OK, with all due respect to Wesley`s ability to handle racial situations, Sunny, why would Woody think that something like that - this letter would persuade a judge, not to send Wesley to jail?</s>HOSTIN: Well, you know, sending letters to a judge prior to a sentencing and in consideration of the sentencing is very, very common. But the type of letters that you usually see and I saw one when I was a prosecutor, would be letters from an employer, saying, you know, we will maintain his employment and he can work for us should he not go to jail. Letters from someone`s pastor or minister or priest attesting to things like that. But that`s not what happened here. So the letter really meant nothing.</s>ANDERSON: He did have nearly three dozen letters from a variety of people. Again, Wesley Snipes sentenced to three years in prison, ordered to pay a fine of up to $5 million. Sunny Hostin, Ashleigh Banfield, thanks for your insight.</s>HOSTIN: You`re welcome.</s>BANFIELD: Thanks.</s>ANDERSON: Well, these young stars are paying a lot of taxes; that`s because they are so darn rich. You`ve got to stick around for this. I can`t believe what the world`s richest kids make. But can they really have a normal life with all this money? Well, Paris Hilton was a rich kid and look how she turned out. Not exactly the best example. You know, she`s got this new reality show where she`s desperate to find a new best friend. More than 85,000 people have applied. Are you kidding me? That`s coming up. Plus, the controversy over the just-named sexiest women of Hollywood. Is Hayden Panettiere really hotter than Angelina Jolie? Lindsay Lohan more luscious than Beyonce? That`s here, next.