Hovinds to be sentenced today
Hovinds to be sentenced today | PensacolaNewsJournal.com
The article notes that Kent and Jo Hovind are scheduled to be sentenced today following their felony convictions on 58 and 44 counts of tax evasion and other charges, respectively.
A federal clerk said Thursday U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers will sentence the Hovinds at 9 a.m. today.
Kent Hovind, who has remained in custody at an undisclosed location since his conviction, faces a maximum of 288 years in prison. Jo Hovind could be sentenced to up to 225 years in prison. She has remained free pending sentencing.
The maximum sentences seem unlikely. An online source indicates that convicted felon tax evaders have a median sentence of 22 months in prison, and serve a median time of 12 months in prison.
Given that there has been no apparent remorse on the part of the Hovinds, I would expect the judge to be somewhat less inclined to hand down sentences on the shy side of the median sentence. The guessing will be over in a couple more hours, I expect.
Update: The Pensacola News-Journal reports on the sentence handed down for Kent Hovind, and that Jo Hovind’s sentencing was postponed.
Pensacola evangelist Kent Hovind was sentenced Friday afternoon to 10 years in prison on charges of tax fraud.
After a lengthy sentencing hearing that last 5 1/2 hours, U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers ordered Hovind also:
— Pay $640,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
— Pay the prosecution’s court costs of $7,078.
— Serve three years parole once he is released from prison.
Hovind’s wife, Jo Hovind, also was scheduled to be sentenced. Rodgers postponed her sentencing until March 1 to allow her defense attorney an opportunity to argue possible discrepancies in sentencing guidelines.
Prior to his sentencing, a tearful Kent Hovind, also known as “Dr. Dino” asked for the court’s leniency.
“If it’s just money the IRS wants, there are thousands of people out there who will help pay the money they want so I can go back out there and preach,” Hovind said.
As various other people have noted, telling the judge that you plan to skim off the hard work and sweat of others to pay restitution is probably not the best strategy for convincing him of your sincerity in being let go to “sin no more”.
Besides which, Hovind should have no trouble with $250K of the $640K, if his “challenge” was worth anything to begin with.
