WESLEY SNIPES WILL REMAIN FREE DURING APPEAL

*Wesley Snipes was granted bail on Thursday that will allow him to remain a free man while his tax evasion case is on appeal, reports TMZ.com.

The actor was due to begin his prison sentence on June 3 after he was convicted in February of failure to file a tax return since 1998. The decision regarding his bail hinged upon whether or not he was considered a flight risk.

In granting bail, the judge also said the appeal process might take a long period of time. "The Court recognizes that ... the disposition of an appeal may well equal -- or nearly equal -- the length of the term of the commitment imposed," the judge stated, according to TMZ.

Snipes' lawyers plan to argue before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the trial judge erred in several ways before and after his February conviction.