Ron Isley's appeal denied; singer ordered to serve remainder of 3-year prison sentence

Jet, March 3, 2008

Soul legend Ron Isley will remain behind bars after an appellate court recently upheld his 37-month federal prison sentence for tax evasion.

The three-judge panel rejected the 66-year-old R&B singer's argument that his sentence was unreasonable due to his age, poor health and lack of proof that the federal prison system can provide him adequate health care.

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In its ruling, the appellate court said the trial judge was correct in sentencing and "best balanced the need to sanction Mr. Isley's 'pathological' tax evasion against the need to accommodate Mr. Isley's poor health."

Isley, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was part of the hit group Isley Brothers, was sentenced in 2006 after being convicted of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file a tax return (JET, Sept. 25, 2006).

Prosecutors said Isley avoided paying taxes numerous times over a three-year period and declared bankruptcy after the IRS seized his yacht, cars and other property in 1997.

In July 2004, Isley suffered a minor stroke and got married one year later. He continuously performed concerts at that time. He is incarcerated at the Terre Haute Federal Corrections Institution in Indiana and his projected release date is in April 2010.

--Associated Press