RONALD 'MR. BIGS' ISLEY LOOSES HIS APPEAL TO EARLY PRISON RELEASE; SINGER'S WIFE GIVES UPDATE ON HIS PROGRESS.

Ronald 'Mr. Bigs' Isleys's bid to spring from the Big House will not happen. At least for now. An appellate court has upheld Isley's 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. 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 was sentenced in 2006 after being convicted of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file a tax return. 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. 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. He is incarcerated at the Terre Haute Federal Corrections Institution in Indiana and his projected release date is in April 2010.

Isley suffered a minor stroke in July 2004, but got married one year later and continuously performed concerts at that time. He and his wife, Kandy Johnson, 35 years his junior share a toddler son. Johnson gave Sister 2 Sister magazine an update on her imprisoned legendary husband late last year.

READ WHAT SHE HAD TO SAY BY CLICKING 'READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP! ON THE BOTTOM LEFT.

Johnson told S2S her husband is holding up well behind bars by eating right and has shed a few pound from exercising (there was a rumor the singer had developed kidney cancer) at the prison's track.

Johnson says, "It's a blessing where he's at because so many people look up to him and admire him. He is in there signing autographs and he's doing fine. He looks good. He does not look like he's under stress whatsoever. He's at peace. He knows that God has got His hands on him, and because of his faith in the Lord—that's what keeps Ronald going. He can see me and his son every weekend. I do miss him but I can go every weekend. He calls me every day and we talk two or three times a day. And because I can go see him every weekend, that helps us get through all of this. I go about seven hours a day.

Kandy also revealed that while her husband is locked up, she's attending to his business affairs until he's released. "And I'm involved in a cognac line that Ronald has coming up...is just in the beginning phases, and it's going to branch out this year. It's by Baron's Select. But it's a signature piece. It's a 35-year-old cognac. It's a high-end cognac and it comes in a nice bottle with Ronald's signature on the bottles."