Dr. Dino wants sentence tossed
Dr. Dino wants sentence tossed
Pensacola News Journal - 11/30/10
The former head of a creationism theme park in Pensacola has asked a federal judge to vacate his sentence.
Kent Hovind, 57, filed the motion Monday in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida which says that both the prosecution and his court-appointed attorney erred at various stages in his tax fraud case.
Hovind, the founder of the Creation Science Evangelism ministry, is serving 10 years in federal prison for failing to pay the Internal Revenue Service more than $470,000 in employee taxes.
A judge ordered the seizure of Hovind's theme park, Dinosaur Adventure Land, as well as two bank accounts associated with the park will be used to satisfy $430,400 owed to the federal government.
A hearing date on the motion wasn't set as of Tuesday.
Hovind was found guilty in November 2006 on 58 counts, including failure to pay employee taxes and making threats against investigators.
The conviction culminated Hovind's 17-year feud with the IRS. Saying he was employed by God and his ministers were not subject to payroll taxes, he claimed no income or property.
Hovind is currently incarcerated at the Jesup Federal Correction Institution in south Georgia.
His wife, Jo, also was sentenced to a year in federal prison for her role in the tax fraud. She was released from prison in December 2009.