Kent Hovind's wife to be sentenced June 29, 2007

[Questioninggeller]

Kent Hovind (http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind/)'s wife, Jo Hovind, will be sentenced Friday June 29, 2007. She was convicted of 44 federal counts, and he was convicted of 58. Both decided not to present a defense at trial.

His blog has posted a prayer request (http://www.cseblogs.com/?p=76) and says "Her role has always been as one of the support team whether, cleaning, cooking, or typing." What it doesn't say was at the trial attorneys had memos written by her that stated employees talk too much on the phone and will be docked pay (http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Evangelist_Kent_Hovind%27s_tax_trial_begins). The Hovinds maintain these aren't employees, but missionaires so they don't have to pay payroll taxes.

Nor does it mention she was the one who withdrew money 44 times (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_of_America_v_Kent_Hovind_and_Jo_Hovi nd#COUNTS_THIRTEEN_THROUGH_FIFTY-SEVEN) to avoid financial reporting requirements in preventing the government to track the money and collect debt owed for previous tax problems.

[Questioninggeller]

Wife of 'Dr. Dino' to be sentenced
By Kris Wernowsky
June, 29, 2007
Pensacolanewsjournal.com

Jo Hovind, the wife of creationist theme-park owner Kent Hovind, is scheduled for sentencing today, after months of delay.

A jury found Jo Hovind guilty in November on 44 counts of evading bank-reporting requirements.
...
Kent Hovind owned and operated Creation Science Evangelism and Dinosaur Adventure Land at 5800 N. Palafox St.

The theme park centers around Hovind's arguments and explanations of the flaws in evolutionary theory.

Dubbed "Dr. Dino," Hovind, a native of East Peoria, Ill., has said that by using science, he proved humans and dinosaurs lived side-by-side, and that the Earth was created by God 6,000 years ago in six days.

Property records show that in August 2004, the park was transferred from Kent Hovind's ownership to the Ecclesiastical Enterprises Trustee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Stoll) in Edmonds, Wash.

Kent Hovind said during the trial that he no longer owned the park, but audiotapes played by the prosecution (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=75757) showed he maintained control of the facility.

The park remains open and the Hovinds' son, Eric (http://forums.randi.org/tags/index.php/eric-hovind/), was there Thursday afternoon giving tours to dozens of patrons.

He said he plans to attend today's proceeding but did not wish to comment on the pending sentencing.



"Wife of 'Dr. Dino' to be sentenced (http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706290338)", June, 29, 2007, Pensacolanewsjournal.com

[Questioninggeller]

'Mrs. Dino' gets prison
June, 29, 2007
By Alvin Peabody
Pensacola News Journal

Jo Hovind, the wife of creationist theme-park owner Kent Hovind, stood solemnly beside her attorney Friday as U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers handed down a sentence of one year and one day in federal prison.

Jo Hovind, 51, also was ordered to pay $8,000 in fines and three years supervision when she is released from prison.
...

"'Mrs. Dino' gets prison (http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770629014)", June, 29, 2007 Pensacola News Journal

[Slimething]

Thanks for following this issue and posting the link to the news website. I really like the skeptical comments many left. Most stated that Jo Hovind got off easy. Maybe that's a reflection of the judge's opinion of Kent Hovind's manipulative and sociopathic personality?

I hope she's learned her lesson. That type of sympathy only plays out once.

[Questioninggeller]

The moderator at Hovind's blog, Paul Abramson, (of creationism.org) blamed:

It was on the local TV news in Pensacola, and in the the liberal local newspaper, where the coverage all along has been tainted with inaccuracies.

...When in doubt blame the "liberal media," and not the person who illegally evaded reporting requirements 44 times, and co-ran a business without filing the proper taxes and licenses.

[Zep]

Where is this blog of Hovind's?

[Questioninggeller]

http://www.cseblogs.com and see this post regarding the blog's name (http://forums.randi.org/showpost.php?p=2484407&postcount=18).

[JAStewart]

Kent Hovind is in Prison?

[Zep]

Thanks, QG.

It seems to me that these people who have "prayed for Kent and Jo" have not progressed a step beyond belief in tooth fairies and wishing on a star.

[Questioninggeller]

She's 'Granny Jo' to her family, but a lawbreaker to the court

July 1, 2007
By Mark OBrien
Pensacolanewsjournal.com

Last winter, Eric Hovind (http://forums.randi.org/tags/index.php/eric-hovind/) was in federal court, saying it was "an honor" to testify on behalf of his father, Kent "Dr. Dino" Hovind.

On Friday, Eric Hovind returned to court, this time to speak for his mother.

And he wanted everyone to know, "It is 10 times that honor to speak on behalf of my mom."

Jo Hovind — "Granny Jo" to her grandchildren — sat attentively as Eric Hovind said his mother was brought down only because she was "a submissive wife" married to Kent Hovind, a flamboyant creationist and tax protester now serving 10 years in prison.

"She did what she was told," he said.
...
Theoretically, she could have received five years in prison for each violation, but 225 years would be ludicrous. She's no gangster. In fact, this is her first brush with the law.
...
When it was her turn to speak, Jo Hovind sounded much like a kindly music teacher.

"I had no intention of evading the IRS," she said. "I really did not have a leadership role in CSE (Creation Science Evangelism, one of her husband's organizations)."

She offered explanations for why she often cashed checks for sums close to the $10,000 limit, and she dismissed as coincidence the fact that she sometimes cashed checks twice in one day — just before and just after 2 p.m., the cutoff for "the banking day" for reporting transactions.

"I would never knowingly do anything illegal," she said.

But the prosecutor, Michelle Heldmyer, said Jo Hovind's statement contradicted the evidence.

"I do not believe she's being truthful to the court," she told Judge Casey Rodgers.
...
While "Mr. Hovind was the decision-making authority" at CSE and Dinosaur Adventure Land, Rodgers said, in four years Jo Hovind cashed some 200 checks, all under $10,000, for a total of $1.5 million.

The frequent use of cash was "their attempt to keep the ministry under the radar screen of the IRS" and not provide a traceable record for requirements such as paying for Social Security and withholding employment taxes.

"Mrs. Hovind was in charge of the payroll," Rodgers said, sentencing her to a year and a day in prison and ordering her to pay $8,000 in fines and costs. In addition, the government also has taken 10 properties from the Hovinds.
...


"She's 'Granny Jo' to her family, but a lawbreaker to the court" (http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070701/NEWS01/707010321), Pensacolanewsjournal.com, July 1, 2007

[Questioninggeller]

Appeals court upholds sentence in Hovind tax-evasion case

News Briefs
July 4, 2007
Pensacolanewsjournal.com

An appeals court Monday upheld the sentence of evangelist and creationist-theme park owner Kent Hovind.
...
Kent Hovind filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit claiming he was prevented from challenging the amount of his tax liability.

A three-judge panel ruled that Hovind failed to raise the issue at the right time, so he waived his rights to contest his tax liability.

The Hovinds operated Dinosaur Adventure Land, a religious theme park at 5800 N. Palafox St. in Pensacola.

"Appeals court upholds sentence in Hovind tax-evasion case", (http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070704/NEWS01/707040326) Pensacolanewsjournal.com, July 4, 2007

Interesting. Hovind argued "he was prevented from challenging the amount of his tax liability," but chose not to present a defense at trial. Not much different from his creationist pleading/claims either. Hovind is looking for support without facts, reason, evidence, and truth.

[Questioninggeller]

Hovind gets 1 year in prison
Wife sentenced in tax-evasion case

June, 30, 2007
By Alvin Peabody
pnj.com

Jo Hovind, the wife of creationist theme-park owner Kent Hovind, stood solemnly beside her attorney as U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers sentenced her to one year and one day in federal prison for evading bank-reporting requirements.

Jo Hovind, 51, also was ordered Friday morning to pay $8,000 in fines and spend three years on supervision when she is released from federal prison.
...
Rodgers also ordered the forfeiture of the Hovinds' properties, including the property where Dinosaur Adventure Land, a theme park, is located: 5800 N. Palafox St. in Pensacola.

Jo Hovind remains free on her own recognizance and is expected to begin serving her prison sentence on Aug. 31.
...
"We found that Jo Hovind paid her employees in cash to avoid creating a record and to ensure that their big transactions weren't traceable," federal prosecutor Michelle Heldmyer said Friday.

Before she was sentenced, Jo Hovind told the court she never set out to deceive the government.

"I don't understand how I could purposefully evade something that I didn't know about," Hovind told the judge. "It's not my character or nature to hide anything."

She later wiped away tears as several of her supporters told the judge that, if she committed any crime, it was obeying her husband.

"What is real justice for Jo Hovind, who is a loving wife who was told what to do?" said Hovind's son, Eric.

"This is a loving woman who was caught in the middle of all of this," said Eric Hovind, the middle of the Hovinds' three children. "Our hearts were not to deceive or manipulate the system; our hearts were meant to do the right thing."

Teresa Schneider has known Jo Hovind since 1997, when her daughter married another of the Hovinds' sons. In an emotional plea for leniency, she described Jo Hovind as a "wonderful example of a wife and mother. One who is willing to give you the shirt off her back."

But the judge was not persuaded, even though she acknowledged that Jo Hovind is a Christian woman with strong faith.

"This case never was about religion, rather a violation of criminal law," Rodgers said. "No one can violate the law and then say that they were doing so for the will of God."
...

"Hovind gets 1 year in prison" (http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706300323), Pensacola News Journal, June, 30, 2007

[Zep]

Rodgers also ordered the forfeiture of the Hovinds' properties, including the property where Dinosaur Adventure Land, a theme park, is located: 5800 N. Palafox St. in Pensacola.However he tried to get away with it the usual way for criminals...Property records show that in August 2004, the park was transferred from Kent Hovind's ownership to the Ecclesiastical Enterprises Trustee in Edmonds, Wash.Which only goes to reinforce the view that Kent knew he was WAY wrong even before he went to trial.

[Questioninggeller]

The court's appeal decision: http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/unpub/ops/200615229.pdf

[Zep]

Page-and-a-half of decision. Nice. All it took to keep Kent where he deserves to be.

[Powa]

It's a court's equivalent of:
:notm

[Questioninggeller]

Did Dinosaurs Live with Man?
By Doug Huntington
Christian Post Reporter
Tue, Jul. 10 2007
...
While there have been extensive arguments over the issue by religious and secular groups, strict creationists have begun to make a strong push toward trying to prove the legitimacy of the co-habitation of dinosaurs with mankind.
...
Others have tried to make a direct scientific link by looking at the same fossil evidence that evolutionists look at. An example of this has been arguments that carbon dating does not accurately place dinosaurs as living more than 10,000 years ago.
...
In 2001, an American evangelist named Kent Hovind built a theme park in Pensacola, Fla., completely based on the dinosaur-human relationship called Dinosaur Adventure Land. The legitimacy of the learning exhibit has been debated by many groups, however, and even some fellow Young Earth creationists – who believe the earth was created relatively recently (about 6,000 years ago) – have not supported his evidence.
...


Article (http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070710/28375_Did_Dinosaurs_Live_with_Man%3F.htm)

Interesting article. It not only forgets to mention what Hovind is up to now (prison) and that no one mentioned in the article is a scientist, but it fails to mention that the scientific evidence is in: the Earth is not flat and humans did not live with dinosaurs.

Also the word is scientists, not "evolutionists," and unnamed opinions about carbon dating are not interesting.

[Questioninggeller]

Kent chimes in:


A Day in the Prison Life of Kent
August 2, 2007
...
Read carefully and tearfully all twelve of the letters I got tonight. In my nine months in prison, I’ve only had a few negative letters. Hundreds have been so encouraging and supportive! It is a joy to know so many are praying for me and especially for my wife. Proverbs 25:25!
...
The sentencing guidelines called for zero to six months probation for her. The judge called the Sentencing Commission in Washington, D.C. and they also told her zero to six months probation was appropriate, but she chose to sentence Jo to one year and one day in Federal Prison. Unless a Stay or Appeal is granted, she must go to prison on August 31st. The judge also granted Forfeiture of the Church Ministry property to pay the amount that was claimed by the Prosecution to have been “structured.” This Forfeiture is based on Title 21 drug laws! Our attorneys are working to right this incredible wrong. Please keep praying as this case goes to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
...


Source (http://www.cseblogs.com/?p=79)

I'm wondering if Hovind is basing his knowledge of the phone calls on same sources he got for his belief in the Loch Ness monster? Maybe another made up story (http://forums.randi.org/showpost.php?p=2473905&postcount=15) Hovind heard in prison?

His criticism of the forfeiture is also just as baseless as his proof about the "end times." The judge took it based on title 18 (18 U.S.C. § 3613) (http://205.152.130.14/or_1b.asp?uinstr=2007061225). Sorry Kent, I don't see title 21 mentioned anywhere in the judge's decision.

According to the "evil" IRS:

Most of Criminal Investigation's seizures and forfeitures are the result of Title 18 and Title 31 money laundering and currency investigations.

Source (http://www.irs.gov/compliance/enforcement/article/0,,id=113004,00.htm)

Hovind also mentioned in the Aug 2 post about appealing his conviction. Considering he didn't present a defense that might be hard.

[Jon.]

I also note that Kent seems much happier now, based on that "day in the life" entry. Sounds like he's at summer camp!

[Slimething]

I also note that Kent seems much happier now, based on that "day in the life" entry. Sounds like he's at summer camp!

Well, he does fit in better with his present crowd. I wonder if they spend their days selling each other swampland.

[Civilized Worm]

What was Kent's sentence?

[Jon.]

What was Kent's sentence?

10 years in prison.