Government Coming Down Harder On Kent Hovind

10/29/2014 

Peter J Reilly Contributor

It has been a tough month for Kent Hovind. Doctor Dino, as he is known, needs no introduction to my regular readers, but I ask for their patience, as I give newcomers a little background. Kent Hovind is one of the leading lights in Young Earth Creationism. YEC follows a hyper literal reading of the Bible to arrive at the world being roughly 6,000 years old. There is no such thing as prehistoric in the YEC view – just antediluvian. Antediluvian means before the Flood, which is used to account for the geologic evidence of a much older earth. One of the implications of YEC is that people and dinosaurs must have been running around at the same time, a concept dear to Kent Hovind's heart, giving him the Doctor Dino sobriquet and inspiring him to have his ministry, Creation Science Evangelism, create a theme park called Dinosaur Adventureland.

Tax Adventures In Dinosaur Adventureland

CSE and the park were the focus of Kent's tax problems which earned him a long sentence in federal prison.  He considered the ministry to be tax exempt and had taken a vow of poverty.  He considered the people who worked there to be missionaries and paid them in cash without filing payroll tax returns.  In his criminal prosecution, the greatest number of counts was for something called "structuring" – systematically keeping cash deposits and withdrawals below $10,000 to avoid currency reporting requirements.  The New York Times just ran a story on a variety of people who, perhaps innocently, ran afoul of the structuring rules and were subject to civil forfeiture, although not criminal prosecution.  The civil liability of Kent and his wife Jo Delia Hovind for income taxes is a separate issue.  Since the IRS could not tell whose money was whose, and the Hovinds apparently did not file at all, they were whipsawed – each being taxed on the whole amount.  Here is a rundown of my coverage of their travails up to this point.  When last we checked in, Kent , nearing the end of a long sentence was hit with another criminal charge for contempt of court arising out of a filing that was made in connection with federal seizure of CSE property.

The Latest On Civil Liability

On October 23, 2014 the Fourth Circuit turned down Hovind's appeal of a Tax Court order finding him liable for over $3 million in taxes and penalties for the years 1996 to 2006.

Hovind repeatedly delayed Tax Court proceedings by failing to file responses to motions, participate in discovery or follow court orders.  He also consistently advanced frivolous arguments and refused to recognize the Tax Court's authority, asserting his individual sovereignty as a free inhabitant foreign to the United States. …….

Finally we decline to address Hovind's challenges to the merits of the deficiency judgement entered against him – that he is exempt from taxation as a minister of CSE and that IRS records contradict the Tax Court's decision – because these arguments were not timely and properly presented to the Tax Court for resolution.

The Latest On Criminal Issues

The Government has not found anything new that they want to prosecute Hovind for, they have just upped the ante on the criminal contempt charge.  That has been withdrawn and an indictment issued.  Hovind now faces mail fraud charges in connection with the lis pendens filing on the real estate that the government had seized.  Included in the indictment is John Paul Hansen, who seems to have been providing the "expertise" in these matters.  It may be that Hansen is the primary target here.  Here is a bit from his blog

I file no Federal Income Taxes (1040 Form) since the year 2000. (No filings in any form.)(Always demand a 6203 Assessment when confronted.)  I do not pay STATE income tax, or sales tax on major purchases. I pay no COUNTY property taxes though I owned over 28 properties (28 buildings). ( I believe I have discovered a "filing for record" process that takes my Land off the tax roles. ) I do not vote for UNITED STATE, or NEBRASKA STATE, County, or City governing officers. I am a sovereign American by birth right. (Not a US citizen.) I believe in full support of the "perpetual Union" as found in the second of four constitutions, "Articles of Confederation".  I have discovered that a "free American" has the lawful standing to choose to live independent of the corporate US governments, and its legislative statutory courts in the vast majority of his daily life, and to be forced to do otherwise is slavery.

This audio clip from a hearing following Hansen's arrest can give you a sense of the types of arguments he will make in court and the type of reactions those arguments elicit from judges.

Kent Hovind has not really focused his energy on preaching views of this sort, even if he may have practiced them to some extent.

Is This Piling On?

I should preface this by saying that Kent Hovind's troubles are pretty much of his own making.  YEC supporters have encouraged Kent to stop fighting the IRS so he can focus his energy on "creation science".  Eric Hovind is following in his dad's footsteps in arguing against evolution, but is not a chip off the old block when it comes to tax compliance.  The website of his group Creation Today gives links to its Form 990 and even mentions its CPA firm.

With that said I really question the judgement of the government in going after Kent 

for making one more stupid filing.  Frankly, if I was on the jury, they might have a hard 

time getting a conviction.  There is stupid and stubborn and there is criminal.  Plenty of 

tax related crime to fight elsewhere.  If Hovind is convicted, he will seem like a martyr.  

If he is acquitted, it will look like a victory for tax defiers.

Other Comments

My most constant commenter, retired IRS appeals officer, Robert Baty, follows Kent's travails much more closely than I do.  Bob speculates that Kent might have an opportunity to flip on Hansen.  He also notes that people in Nebraska might be happy to have Hansen out of circulation as he has been creating aggravation for local authorities.

On 2 Peter 3.com, a site sympathetic to Kent's view of things we have:

ATTENTION: FRIENDS OF DR. HOVIND
OUR FRIEND PAUL HANSEN ALSO HAS BEEN TAKEN TO JAIL! THIS IS THE US GOVERNMENT'S XIAN PERSECUTION AT IT'S FINEST! PLS PRAY FOR DR. HOVIND AND PAUL HANSEN!

So at least for the moment there may be some solidarity there.

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Hovind Blog: http://www.kenthovindblog.com/

Dr. Hovind's trial has been rescheduled for Jan. 5th at 8 pm at the Federal Court Building in Pensacola, Florida.