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It can't happen here? Kent Hovind Case

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Author Topic: It can't happen here? Kent Hovind Case  (Read 8723 times)
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« on: February 03, 2015, 06:40:42 pm »

Published on Feb 3, 2015
In this video I read from a biography of Patrick Henry, in which it describes the religous persecution of those preaching the Gospel by the government.

The case of Kent Hovind is simply another chapter in that history, where the government seeks to silence those who would preach the Gospel of the grace of God.




« Last Edit: March 14, 2015, 06:16:54 am by Mark » Report Spam   Logged

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« Reply #1 on: February 04, 2015, 04:15:52 am »

"Dr. Kent Hovind, Baptist minister, Creation Science Evangelist and convicted tax code violator has served 99-months of a 10-year prison sentence for misapplied RICO statute and IRS employer tax laws.

In this writer’s opinion and that of Kent Hovind and many others, Mr. Hovind is innocent of all of the charges that have kept him imprisoned over the last 8+ years. The IRS and the federal government targeted Hovind for being an effective, outspoken conservative Christian creationist, who they wanted to keep silenced for his convincing anti-evolution views. Hovind’s sentence and ongoing prosecution is outrageous for an alleged victimless offense.

If Hovind supporters are wrong, and he is indeed guilty of something, his lengthy incarceration surely far exceeds that of much greater tax cheats who often either pay a fine or are imprisoned for a short time. The average jail time served for someone convicted of tax related charges in 2013 was 14 months. Hovind has done 99 months and they are seeking to lock him away for the rest of his life. This is all occurring while the “Reverend” Al Sharpton allegedly owes the IRS 4.5 million in back taxes. Sharpton, a polarizing racially divisive figure, is rewarded by society with his own opinionated “news” propaganda show on the MSNBC network and has reportedly been invited to the White House more than 80-times by Barack Obama as an advisor on race relations.

There are many anti-Hovind detractors. These people are generally atheist evolution proponents that would like to see Hovind spend the rest of his life in jail, (for tax related charges, of course!). It is obvious that these people are not rational, and are motivated against Hovind based on ideological philosophy. Kent Hovind upsets and rebukes their evolution worldview with articulate presentations of creationism, repeatedly demonstrating just how stupid evolution theory is. For this, they would like to see Hovind pay with his life.

In the 8+ years Hovind has spent in prison, he has been transferred between different jails over 20-times. This is an extraordinary amount of transfers for an inmate without any behavioral or other issues warranting such moves. It has been theorized by some Hovind supporters that these transfers may be purposefully being conducted with the intent and possible objective that Hovind could be murdered while being tranferred around. The more times an inmate is transferred, the likelihood that he will be confronted with a violent inmate increases, which could lead to Hovind’s death while incarcerated.

8+ years is not enough, according to the latest federal charges pending against Hovind. Hovind, having appealed his original conviction and contesting the liens placed on his personal property that was seized by the federal government, now faces new criminal charges for multiple counts of contempt and for frivolously using the prison mail system to make those appeals! Hovind faces between 20-100 more years if convicted on any or all counts.

Hovind was due to be released from prison and into home confinement on or about February 11, 2015, after having served over 80% of his 10-year sentence, but that is not likely to happen. It is not that Hovind is a flight risk – the federal government could easily withhold his passport – if he still has one, until after his upcoming trial. The Bureau of Prisons that decides the release of inmates has a self-serving financial interest policy of keeping prisoners, who are currently serving time, incarcerated if they are facing pending charges. The prison-for-profit jail systems in America have a financial incentive to keep their prisons full of inmates. The federal government reimburses detention centers for keeping their prisons housed at full capacity, but they do not get paid for having empty jail cells.

Hovind’s new trial date has been rescheduled, for the third time, from Feb 9th till March 2 at the request of a prosecutor who claimed to have “family issues.” Well, my apologies to the prosecution team, but Mr. Hovind has got a lot of family issues as well! He has not been home to see his family in over 8-years! Prosecution’s motion to delay trial: GRANTED. Defense’s motion to deny delay of trial: DENIED. The Sixth Amendment’s Constitutional right to a speedy trial does not apply in the ongoing continued prosecution of Kent Hovind!

Judge Margaret Casey Rodgers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida is the federal judge set to preside over the upcoming Hovind trial. Judge Rodgers was the same judge that presided over Hovind’s original trial and who sentenced him to 10-years in prison. Judge Rodgers has an anti-Christian bias, having issued a court order in the past to a school district to refrain from promoting religious activity at school events. Judge Rodgers issued a scathing statement at the close of Hovind’s first trial, which was frankly, way over the top. Judge Rodgers has refused to recuse herself from presiding over the upcoming Hovind trial, maintaining that she can be impartial. After reading the original trial transcript and listening to a narrated reading of Judge Rodgers statement before sentencing Hovind, it can hardly be argued that Judge Rodgers could remain unbiased in the upcoming Hovind trial and will sentence Hovind, now 62, to the maximum allowable jail time if he is found guilty on any counts.

Kent Hovind is a man that has been incarcerated for his outspoken Christian faith and his well-spoken presentations refuting evolution theory, which is the science and “religion” of the U.S. public school system and higher “scientific” education institutions. Kent Hovind is certainly not facing life in prison for victimless tax crimes.

Life imprisonment, or any continued incarceration, is cruel and unusual punishment for Kent Hovind. Hovind is a righteous Christian family man, devoted husband and father, a non-violent person who has never used illegal narcotic drugs or has even drank an alcoholic beverage in his life. Kent Hovind is not a threat to himself, his family or society. Kent Hovind is not a threat to the U.S. government, by means of violence or terrorism. Hovind however, does threaten the U.S. government’s secular ideology: Darwinian evolution, but he is within his Constitutionally protected religious and free speech rights to do so.

Kent Hovind is a POW – a prisoner of a cultural religious war. Hovind maintains his innocence and has repeatedly told the court that if he has unknowingly violated any tax laws or owes the government any money that he is willing to pay reparations and follow any such laws going forward. But taxes is obviously not what this case is about. Kent Hovind is being treated like Al Capone. The feds came after Capone for taxes, because they could not convict him for his organized crime activities. In a similar manner, the government went after Hovind and continues to persecute him over alleged tax code violations and related charges, because they cannot refute or counter his creation theories that oppose their official secular atheist evolution philosophy. They want Kent Hovind to remain silenced in prison for the rest of his life."

It is time for Christians and other fair-minded Americans to rise up, get involved and demand Hovind’s release. FREE KENT HOVIND!

Sign the Petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freekentandpaulnow#discussion

Write to Kent Hovind in Prison:

Santa Rosa County Jail
C/O Kent Hovind
P.O. Box 7129
Milton, FL 32572

http://cowgernation.com/2015/01/31/free-kent-hovind-imprisoned-8-years-now-facing-new-trial-for-bogus-charges-with-a-biased-anti-christian-judge-presiding/
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« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2015, 06:30:22 pm »

http://christiannews.net/2015/02/04/irs-vs-kent-hovind-imprisoned-evolutionary-foe-now-facing-new-charges-life-behind-bars/
2/4/15
IRS vs. Kent Hovind: Imprisoned Evolutionary Foe Now Facing New Charges, Life Behind Bars

PENSACOLA, Fla. – An imprisoned creation science evangelist and Baptist minister who refuted evolutionary theory and who has served eight years of a ten-year prison sentence is now fighting a new charge that would put him behind bars for life.

Kent Hovind, the founder of Creation Science Evangelism out of Pensacola, Florida, has been incarcerated since 2007 over 58 federal counts that largely center on alleged tax evasion. Hovind, who traveled the nation presenting talks about science and the Bible, had considered his ministry to be a church and considered himself to be a minister. Churches are not required to file taxes and are automatically exempt under the law.

But an official with Pensacola Christian College reported Hovind to the IRS, which concluded that those at Creation Science Evangelism did not technically consider the ministry to be their church. The government likewise did not believe Hovind when he said that those who served with him were missionaries but not employees. Hovind also stated that he did not receive any personal compensation from the ministry.

The IRS subsequently ordered Hovind to pay taxes as it would not permit Creation Science Evangelism to be classified as a church, and since it was not registered as a non-profit organization with the government entity.
**Yes - Hovind's ministry is NOT a 501c3!

In 2004, Hovind’s home was raided by IRS agents, and tax liens were placed against his property in the amount of  $504,957.24. He filed three separate lawsuits against the government in an attempt to stop the proceedings, which he viewed as harassment, but was unsuccessful.

In 2006, the case went to trial, and a jury convicted him on all 58 counts. His wife, Jo Delia, was convicted on 44 counts. In January 2007, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and remains incarcerated to this day.

Public opinion about the matter has been mixed, as some state that Hovind was wrongfully imprisoned or that his punishment was too severe. An online effort simply known as “Free Kent Hovind” exists to help seek the release of the evolutionary foe.

But those behind the effort are once again stepping up their call to support Hovind as he is now being accused of mail fraud for using the prison mail system to contest the lien that was placed on his personal property. If convicted, reports state that he could face an additional 20-100 years behind bars, thus equating to a life sentence for Hovind.

His trial has been set from Feb. 9 through March 2 before Judge Margaret Casey Rodgers, who presided over his original trial in 2006.

“Judge Rodgers has exhibited an anti-Christian bias, having issued a court order to a school district to refrain from allowing religious activity in the form of prayer at school events,” states Rudy Davis with the Free Kent Hovind effort. “Dr. Hovind also claims Judge Rodgers stated his crimes were ‘worse than ****,’ or words to that effect at his January 2007 sentencing and he has several affidavits from others in the courtroom who claim to have heard Judge Rodgers make this statement as well.”

Wiley Drake, pastor of the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., has also organized an event called “Boots on the Ground for Kent Hovind” from Feb. 5-10 at the Red Roof Inn in Pensacola, Fla. The event is said to involve a prayer rally and march in support of Hovind.
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« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2015, 12:39:48 pm »

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« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2015, 02:04:32 pm »

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« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2015, 04:30:46 am »



 Shocked That explains it well!
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« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2015, 09:30:10 pm »

I've been studying about this tonight - Hovind's ministry is NOT a 501c3 - so not only he didn't have to file 990 forms, he pretty much obeyed the laws. However, b/c the feds couldn't find any criminal activities with this, they decided to go after him for something else..."structuring" deposits.

"structuring" deposits is where if you deposit more than $10K in a bank, you have to report it to the government. This is why businesses et al will break it down into smaller deposits(ie-if let's say they have $19K, they can deposit $9500 into 2 separate accounts, and nothing has to get reported). The reason why the IRS has this law is b/c so they can monitor DRUG TRAFFICKERS/MONEY LAUNDERING, among other criminal activities(otherwise, as long as the money received is legal, structured deposits are OK). No, Hovind did NOT do anything wrong when he structured his deposits(but the government just wanted to find another excuse).

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« Reply #7 on: February 12, 2015, 01:34:52 pm »

While the athiest/anti-Hovind people are insisting that that federal judge presiding over his case did not say his crime was "worse than ****"(despite several sworn affidavits, but somehow was removed from the transcripts). Here's what this judge DID say(which did show up on the transcripts)...

http://christiannewswire.com/news/9744675477.html

On page 12 of Hovind's trial transcript Judge Rodgers did state her belief that "Mr. Hovind was an organizer or leader of an extensive criminal operation."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seriously - a supposedly white collar crime is an "organizer of an extensive criminal operation"? Are you kidding me?
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« Reply #8 on: February 12, 2015, 01:41:09 pm »

Guess who turned on Hovind...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Hovind

Creation Science Evangelism is not listed as a tax-exempt organization by the Internal Revenue Service,[148] nor is it considered a church by people who work there.[149][150] The ministry's organizational structure was described by the United States Tax Court as appearing to be "based on various questionable trust documents purchased from Glen Stoll, a known promoter of tax avoidance schemes",[52] leading it to conclude that Hovind used these trust documents as well as other fraudulent means to conceal the ownership and control of his activities and properties.[52]

Hovind was originally reported to the IRS by Pensacola Christian College senior vice president Rebekah Horton in the mid 1990s, after she learned of Hovind's anti-tax stand.[151]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) Hovind didn't do anything wrong(in terms of structuring his ministry) - it's a 508c1a - which means it's NOT classified as a 501c3(so ignore the 2nd half of the 1st paragraph above).

2) No - it was NOT some lost person that turned him in. It was a (supposedly fellow)"Christian"!(and 501c3 one at that)
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« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2015, 03:35:14 pm »

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« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2015, 04:15:41 pm »

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« Reply #11 on: February 12, 2015, 05:05:34 pm »

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/irs-apologizes-seizing-bank-accounts-172627143.html
IRS apologizes for seizing bank accounts of small businesses

IRS apologizes for using bank secrecy law to seize accounts of law-abiding small businesses

2/11/15

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pressured by Congress, the IRS said Wednesday it is changing its policies and apologizing for seizing banks accounts from otherwise law-abiding business owners simply because they structured bank transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements.

Their alleged crime: routinely making bank deposits of less than $10,000. That allowed the business owners to avoid reporting requirements designed to catch drug dealers and money launderers.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress that the IRS is changing policies to prevent the seizures, as long as the money came from legal means.

"To anyone who is not treated fairly under the code, I apologize," Koskinen told the House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee. "Taxpayers have to be comfortable that they will be treated fairly."

By law, bank transactions above $10,000 must be reported to the IRS. It's a felony, called "structuring," to manage transactions to avoid the reporting requirement, even if the money is legally earned.

In some cases, the IRS seized and held bank accounts for years without bringing charges.

Koskinen said he didn't know how many cases the new policy would affect. He said the IRS seized a total of 147 accounts last year, including those in which the money was illegally obtained.

"On average over the last several years, it's less than 200 cases," Koskinen said. "In 60 percent of those cases, the owner of the asset never shows up, which shows that they obviously had a criminal activity going on."

The Treasury inspector general for tax administration is launching an audit of the IRS's seizure program, said Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., chairman of the Ways and Means oversight subcommittee. It is unclear how long the probe will take.

Roskam said the IRS has too much power to seize assets, even if the agency doesn't have adequate evidence of a crime.

"The IRS doesn't have to give notice to the account-holder before seizing the assets. And the IRS doesn't have to prove that the person is actually guilty of anything — just that the account probably is involved in structuring," Roskam said.

Georgia gun shop owner Andrew Clyde said he didn't know about the reporting law when he got an insurance policy that only covered losses up to $10,000 if they happened outside his store in Athens.

Clyde and three other business owners appeared before Roskam's subcommittee Wednesday to recount how the IRS had seized their bank accounts.

Because of his insurance policy, Clyde said, he didn't like carrying more than $10,000 in cash between his store and the bank.

As a result, Clyde said, he made 109 transactions between May 2012 and March 2013, totaling $940,313. A month later, he said he was visited by two IRS agents who accused him of structuring those deposits to avoid the reporting law. They said the account had been seized.

"I was never so afraid in my life," said Clyde," a former Marine who did three tours in Iraq. "I trembled when they left."

Clyde said he was never accused of evading taxes or of illegally obtaining the money. Yet, he said, the IRS filed a civil complaint against him and made several offers to settle the case by forcing him to forfeit large portions of his money.

In August, three days before the scheduled start of a civil trial initiated by the IRS, Clyde agreed to forfeit $50,000 in order to get the rest of his money back. Clyde said his legal bills totaled almost $150,000.

"This was my tactical retreat, so I could live to fight another day," Clyde told the subcommittee. "And that day is today."
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« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2015, 05:21:45 pm »

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/us/law-lets-irs-seize-accounts-on-suspicion-no-crime-required.html?_r=2
10/25/14
Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required

ARNOLDS PARK, Iowa — For almost 40 years, Carole Hinders has dished out Mexican specialties at her modest cash-only restaurant. For just as long, she deposited the earnings at a small bank branch a block away — until last year, when two tax agents knocked on her door and informed her that they had seized her checking account, almost $33,000.

The Internal Revenue Service agents did not accuse Ms. Hinders of money laundering or cheating on her taxes — in fact, she has not been charged with any crime. Instead, the money was seized solely because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time, which they viewed as an attempt to avoid triggering a required government report.

“How can this happen?” Ms. Hinders said in a recent interview. “Who takes your money before they prove that you’ve done anything wrong with it?”

The federal government does.

Using a law designed to catch drug traffickers, racketeers and terrorists by tracking their cash, the government has gone after run-of-the-mill business owners and wage earners without so much as an allegation that they have committed serious crimes. The government can take the money without ever filing a criminal complaint, and the owners are left to prove they are innocent. Many give up.

“They’re going after people who are really not criminals,” said David Smith, a former federal prosecutor who is now a forfeiture expert and lawyer in Virginia. “They’re middle-class citizens who have never had any trouble with the law.”

On Thursday, in response to questions from The New York Times, the I.R.S. announced that it would curtail the practice, focusing instead on cases where the money is believed to have been acquired illegally or seizure is deemed justified by “exceptional circumstances.”

Richard Weber, the chief of Criminal Investigation at the I.R.S., said in a written statement, “This policy update will ensure that C.I. continues to focus our limited investigative resources on identifying and investigating violations within our jurisdiction that closely align with C.I.'s mission and key priorities.” He added that making deposits under $10,000 to evade reporting requirements, called structuring, is still a crime whether the money is from legal or illegal sources. The new policy will not apply to past seizures.

The I.R.S. is one of several federal agencies that pursue such cases and then refer them to the Justice Department. The Justice Department does not track the total number of cases pursued, the amount of money seized or how many of the cases were related to other crimes, said Peter Carr, a spokesman.

But the Institute for Justice, a Washington-based public interest law firm that is seeking to reform civil forfeiture practices, analyzed structuring data from the I.R.S., which made 639 seizures in 2012, up from 114 in 2005. Only one in five was prosecuted as a criminal structuring case.

The practice has swept up dairy farmers in Maryland, an Army sergeant in Virginia saving for his children’s college education and Ms. Hinders, 67, who has borrowed money, strained her credit cards and taken out a second mortgage to keep her restaurant going.

Continue reading the main story
Their money was seized under an increasingly controversial area of law known as civil asset forfeiture, which allows law enforcement agents to take property they suspect of being tied to crime even if no criminal charges are filed. Law enforcement agencies get to keep a share of whatever is forfeited.

Critics say this incentive has led to the creation of a law enforcement dragnet, with more than 100 multiagency task forces combing through bank reports, looking for accounts to seize. Under the Bank Secrecy Act, banks and other financial institutions must report cash deposits greater than $10,000. But since many criminals are aware of that requirement, banks also are supposed to report any suspicious transactions, including deposit patterns below $10,000. Last year, banks filed more than 700,000 suspicious activity reports. Owners who are caught up in structuring cases often cannot afford to fight. The median amount seized by the I.R.S. was $34,000, according to the Institute for Justice analysis, while legal costs can easily mount to $20,000 or more.

There is nothing illegal about depositing less than $10,000cash unless it is done specifically to evade the reporting requirement. But often a mere bank statement is enough for investigators to obtain a seizure warrant. In one Long Island case, the police submitted almost a year’s worth of daily deposits by a business, ranging from $5,550 to $9,910. The officer wrote in his warrant affidavit that based on his training and experience, the pattern “is consistent with structuring.” The government seized $447,000 from the business, a cash-intensive candy and cigarette distributor that has been run by one family for 27 years.

There are often legitimate business reasons for keeping deposits below $10,000, said Larry Salzman, a lawyer with the Institute for Justice who is representing Ms. Hinders and the Long Island family pro bono. For example, he said, a grocery store owner in Fraser, Mich., had an insurance policy that covered only up to $10,000 cash. When he neared the limit, he would make a deposit.

Ms. Hinders said that she did not know about the reporting requirement and that for decades, she thought she had been doing everyone a favor.

“My mom had told me if you keep your deposits under $10,000, the bank avoids paperwork,” she said. “I didn’t actually think it had anything to do with the I.R.S.”

In May 2012, the bank branch Ms. Hinders used was acquired by Northwest Banker. JoLynn Van Steenwyk, the fraud and security manager for Northwest, said she could not discuss individual clients, but explained that the bank did not have access to past account histories after it acquired Ms. Hinders’s branch.

Banks are not permitted to advise customers that their deposit habits may be illegal or educate them about structuring unless they ask, in which case they are given a federal pamphlet, Ms. Van Steenwyk said. “We’re not allowed to tell them anything,” she said.

Still lawyers say it is not unusual for depositors to be advised by financial professionals, or even bank tellers, to keep their deposits below the reporting threshold. In the Long Island case, the company, Bi-County Distributors, had three bank accounts closed because of the paperwork burden of its frequent cash deposits, said Jeff Hirsch, the eldest of three brothers who own the company. Their accountant then recommended staying below the limit, so for more than a decade the company had been using its excess cash to pay vendors.

Continue reading the main storyContinue reading the main storyContinue reading the main story
More than two years ago, the government seized $447,000, and the brothers have been unable to retrieve it. Mr. Salzman, who has taken over legal representation of the brothers, has argued that prosecutors violated a strict timeline laid out in the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act, passed in 2000 to curb abuses. The office of the federal attorney for the Eastern District of New York said the law’s timeline did not apply in this case. Still, prosecutors asked the Hirsches’ first lawyer, Joseph Potashnik, to waive the CARFA timeline. The waiver he signed expired almost two years ago.

The federal attorney’s office said that parties often voluntarily negotiated to avoid going to court, and that Mr. Potashnik had been engaged in talks until just a few months ago. But Mr. Potashnik said he had spent that time trying, to no avail, to show that the brothers were innocent. They even paid a forensic accounting firm $25,000 to check the books.

“I don’t think they’re really interested in anything,” Mr. Potashnik said of the prosecutors. “They just want the money.”


Bi-County has survived only because longtime vendors have extended credit — one is owed almost $300,000, Mr. Hirsch said. Twice, the government has made settlement offers that would require the brothers to give up an “excessive” portion of the money, according to a new court filing.

“We’re just hanging on as a family here,” Mr. Hirsch said. “We weren’t going to take a settlement, because I was not guilty.”

Army Sgt. Jeff Cortazzo of Arlington, Va., began saving for his daughters’ college costs during the financial crisis, when many banks were failing. He stored cash first in his basement and then in a safe-deposit box. All of the money came from paychecks, he said, but he worried that when he deposited it in a bank, he would be forced to pay taxes on the money again. So he asked the bank teller what to do.

“She said: ‘Oh, that’s easy. You just have to deposit less than $10,000.'”

The government seized $66,000; settling cost Sergeant Cortazzo $21,000. As a result, the eldest of his three daughters had to delay college by a year
.

“Why didn’t the teller tell me that was illegal?” he said. “I would have just plopped the whole thing in the account and been done with it.”
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« Reply #13 on: February 13, 2015, 12:40:24 pm »


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« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2015, 04:14:11 pm »

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« Reply #15 on: February 18, 2015, 05:08:31 pm »

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« Reply #16 on: February 21, 2015, 06:07:17 am »

As Pastor Faces Lifetime in Prison, Supporters Argue Persecution

Pastor Kent Hovind (shown), a powerful advocate of biblical creationism who has already served almost 100 months in federal prison as part of what his supporters say amounts to a ruthless government campaign of religious persecution, is now potentially facing up to 100 years behind bars. As federal prosecutors prepare to make their case for keeping Dr. Hovind incarcerated for the rest of his natural life, however, a growing grassroots campaign across America is demanding that he be set free — and that those responsible for allegedly railroading him be held accountable, including potentially the judge, who has developed a reputation among those following the case as having a strong anti-Christian bias.

With the IRS now embroiled in escalating scandal surrounding politically motivated attacks against conservatives and Tea Party groups, analysts say Hovind’s case is now especially important and ought to be probed by Congress. There are also a number of irregularities in every step of the process that resulted in the pastor landing behind bars, his supporters say. Meanwhile, a Justice Department attorney who helped secure Hovind’s original conviction was arrested for attempting to **** a child shortly after he won the case against the pastor. Critics of the prosecution cite that, and other facts, as further evidence that Hovind was targeted for his beliefs and his effectiveness in challenging the evolution theory and other key elements of the secular faith, rather than for actual tax violations.   

Dr. Hovind’s original case, which resulted in the first 10-year prison sentence, had raised eyebrows nationwide long before the latest twist in the ordeal. After reportedly going through multiple grand juries to finally get to a trial, with a judge whom critics said displayed blatant hostility against Christians, Hovind was convicted of a number of “financial crimes.” Taxation-focused analyst Peter Reilly, following the case in Forbes, suggested Hovind may have followed bad advice from a “tax protester.” Hovind, though, has consistently maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal, and growing numbers of supporters across America agree with him. Even if he were in fact guilty of the charges, which Hovind and his supporters deny, critics of the prosecution and court case have been pointing out that the average jail time for those convicted of tax-related crimes in 2013 was 14 months. Many simply pay a fine.

Obama ally and race-monger Al Sharpton, for example, who still owes millions in back taxes, has visited the White House dozens of times in recent years. Timothy “TurboTax” Geithner, who failed to pay his taxes despite signing an agreement indicating that he needed to and understood that, was even selected to be Obama’s Treasury Secretary. Democrat Representative Charlie Rangel, who for years served as the chairman of the congressional committee in charge of writing the federal tax code, came under major fire after failing to pay taxes on rental income from a villa he owned in the Dominican Republic. As of September 2013, over 318,000 federal employees owed some $3.3 billion in back taxes. Not one of them is in prison for failure to pay.

However, Pastor Hovind, often referred to as “Dr. Dino” due to his passion for dinosaurs, has been behind bars in 20 different prisons for over eight years so far on seemingly far less serious charges — and could remain there until death if prosecutors and the judge get their way. The latest charges surround an effort Hovind made from prison to contest the liens that were allegedly improperly placed on his ministry’s property by the federal government. He is being accused of “contempt of court” and alleged “mail fraud” for using the prison mail system to fight back against having the ministry’s assets seized by filing what has been described as a notice that litigation on the property was ongoing. The upcoming case to determine Hovind’s fate was supposed to take place next week, but has again been postponed by officials, this time until March, due to “family issues.”

“We need bold Christians to make a statement,” said Rudy Davis, a friend of Pastor Hovind who speaks with him daily and is working to raise awareness of what he says is relentless government persecution against Dr. Dino. “Mainstream media is ignoring Dr. Kent's case.... We desperately need to speak up now.” According to Davis, who describes himself as a Bible-believing follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spiritual answer for why Hovind is being persecuted boils down to this: “Kent was exposing Satan's kingdom and Satan's deceptions.” Numerous Hovind supporters, including popular firebrand Reverend James David Manning and Southern Baptist leader Reverend Wiley Drake, have expressed similar sentiments, indicating that Hovind is indeed being persecuted.

“I along with so many others are deeply grieved in our hearts when we hear that they are trying to keep Kent Hovind in prison for the remainder of his life as people were looking forward to him being released in 2015,” Davis, one of Hovind’s most passionate supporters, told The New American. “I truly believe this is an innocent man in prison and a POW (Prisoner of War) in the spiritual warfare of Good vs Evil. God will get the glory in Kent's case no matter what. As you may know, Kent will not compromise with the devil and has maintained his innocence the entire 99 months that he has been incarcerated…. We are asking that you educate yourself and take whatever action God leads on behalf of our brother in the Lord, Kent Hovind.”

In an e-mail to The New American about why the federal government would persecute Hovind, Davis pointed to a video where the pastor explores some of the horrifying atrocities perpetrated under cover of the evolution theory. Hovind, a former science teacher, firmly rejects the theory as an attack on the Bible and the Christian faith. For years, he traveled the nation exposing flaws in school textbooks on the issue. In the introduction to the video, Pastor Hovind declares that the evolution theory is “not only dumb, it’s dangerous.” Prior to being thrown in prison, the pastor was among the nation’s leading advocates for creation science. His seminars and debates against evolutionists had been viewed countless times online by people around the world, and supporters say he was quickly changing hearts and minds.

Then, the federal government launched its campaign to lock him up on tax charges. The first 12 counts surrounded Hovind’s alleged failure to withhold taxes from employees of his Christian ministry. “First of all, we didn’t have any employees,” Hovind explained in a recorded interview posted on YouTube, adding that all the missionaries and volunteers were independent contractors responsible for their own tax filings. “Churches are not obligated to withhold anyway, and I showed all the laws in a 2005 affidavit.” He also said he asked the IRS what he should do. The agency never responded, until showing up to arrest him with a heavily armed SWAT team in what critics say was extreme overkill — to put it mildly, considering that his wife was dragged out of bed at gunpoint and not even allowed to get dressed. One video urging Hovind’s release cited 20 attacks on the pastor that “North Korea would welcome.”

The second set of charges involved “structuring,” which, as Hovind put it in the online interview, “I had never heard of,” just like the overwhelming majority of Americans. Essentially, the controversial statute in question — written primarily for drug dealers and organized crime syndicates, not churches or pastors — makes it a crime to take out over $10,000 per day from a bank account in multiple rounds, if the intent is to prevent the creation of federally mandated records used for spying on Americans’ financial activities in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Hovind says he did no such thing.

“After trial, the judge changed the jury instructions and told the jury ‘if you find out that the Hovinds took out less than $10,000, you have to find them guilty,’ which is not what the law says,” Hovind explained from prison, suggesting that the judge misled the jury. “The law says over $10,000. So the jury, of course, confused by all that, said, ‘yeah, they took out less than $10,000, that’s obvious.’” Then, using drug statutes, the Justice Department’s **** attorney on the case demanded that the church’s money be forfeited, and so sought to seize the ministry’s property under asset forfeiture schemes also designed for drug dealers and crime bosses.

Shortly after attempting to seize all of the ministry’s property, one of the U.S. government lawyers involved in prosecuting Pastor Hovind was arrested by the FBI in a sting operation in Detroit for trying to have sex with a five-year-old child. Assistant U.S. Attorney John David “Roy” Atchison, after being charged with “enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity using the Internet,” “aggravated sexual abuse,” and “traveling across state lines to have sex with someone under the age of 12,” ended up committing suicide by hanging himself in jail. The other assistant U.S. attorney on Hovind’s case, Michelle Heldmyer, was in the news in the early 1990s after her husband was reportedly found to be on the same mailing list for obscene pornography as a judge who killed himself after getting caught.

The final charge against Hovind, according to critics of the prosecution and the court, is also perhaps the most outlandish. According to prosecutors, Hovind allegedly “threatened” an IRS agent while the agent was doing his "duty." The name of the agent and the nature of the threat have never been publicly revealed, but Hovind thinks he might know. “The only thing we could figure out, there was never anything on that, other than that I prayed for the guy on the radio after they raided the ministry,” Hovind said in the interview from jail posted on YouTube. “I was doing a radio program and I prayed for him, I said, ‘Lord, I’m your child, I want you to handle this’.” Hovind says he was essentially given three additional years in prison for praying on the radio.

While the prosecution was suspicious enough to critics, Hovind supporters also say U.S. District Judge Margaret Casey Rodgers improperly played a crucial role in helping the Justice Department lock Hovind away. Across the Internet, websites and videos dedicated to freeing Hovind declare the judge to have a strong “anti-Christian bias.” Among other evidence, they point to a 2009 case in which the judge threatened two school officials with prison time for saying a prayer before a meal at an athletic banquet. In Hovind’s trial, meanwhile, the judge was accused in multiple sworn affidavits by witnesses to have declared the pastor’s alleged crimes to be “worse than ****.” Even more troubling, perhaps, is that the transcripts were allegedly altered to remove the extreme biased-revealing statement, and the audio transcript has still not been released despite repeated requests, according to supporters. The same judge is scheduled to hear the upcoming trial, despite requests for a different judge.

Pastor Hovind, who still sounds upbeat and full of joy in phone interviews posted online, despite spending over eight years in federal prison, thinks a proper inquiry would be appropriate — and that a definite judgment will come eventually, even if it’s in the next life. “I welcome a full investigation before Congress,” said Hovind, who has always been open about his refusal to accept 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS because he believes it unconstitutionally interferes with his right to speak freely. “There will be a full investigation before God one of these days.”

With Hovind set to be back in court next month on charges that could send him to prison for the rest of his life, supporters are encouraging Christians and all Americans to take action. Among other options, Hovind's friend Davis urged people to pray, watch Hovind’s videos on YouTube, get educated about the case, sign petitions, donate to and support the Free Kent Hovind movement, write to or even visit Hovind in prison in the Florida panhandle, and educate others on the case. Other supporters are urging Americans to contact their elected representatives about the case and demand a thorough, impartial investigation. More information on the whole ordeal from Hovind supporters can be found at www.FreeKentHovind.com and www.2Peter3.com.

Update (February 4): Several clarifications have been added to this article since its publication yesterday.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/20030-as-pastor-faces-lifetime-in-prison-supporters-argue-persecution
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« Reply #17 on: February 22, 2015, 10:28:06 pm »

http://www.dennyburk.com/breaking-update-florist-rejects-ags-offer-stands-courageously-on-principle-and-risks-everything-alliancedefends/
Florist rejects AG’s offer, stands courageously on principle, and risks everything

by Denny Burk on February 20, 2015 in Christianity, News

If you haven’t been following Barronelle Stutzman’s case in Washington State, you need to be. She is the florist being sued by the state attorney general for refusing to participate in a gay wedding. The attorney general is trying to compel her to ignore her Christian faith and to participate in gay weddings. If she refuses, he is threatening the full coercive power of the state to force her to do it. She stands to lose everything—her home, her savings, her business, her livelihood—if she does not comply. I have an article today at CNN.com explaining the situation. The conclusion reads like this:

Barronelle Stutzman’s case is nothing less than an egregious violation of our first freedom. It is Caesar saying, “Conscience be damned. Submit to the new sexual orthodoxy or risk losing everything.”

This is not tolerance. This is injustice that flies in the face of this nation’s laws and traditions. And if this kind of thing can be done to a 70-year-old grandmother running a small flower shop in rural Washington State, then it can be done to you. No one’s conscience is safe if this precedent becomes the norm.

Late yesterday after news began to spread that a 70-year old grandmother was being threatened with financial ruin, the attorney general proposed a settlement that offers a small fine in exchange for Mrs. Stutzman’s agreeing to admit wrongdoing and to violate her conscience going forward.

Today, Mrs. Studzman has released a statement through her legal team that is as astonishing as it is courageous. Rather than accept the nominal fine and surrender her principles, she has decided to risk everything to stand for religious freedom. In her own words to the attorney general:

Thank you for reaching out and making an offer to settle your case against me.

As you may imagine, it has been mentally and emotionally exhausting to be at the center of this controversy for nearly two years.  I never imagined that using my God-given talents and abilities, and doing what I love to do for over three decades, would become illegal. Our state would be a better place if we respected each other’s differences, and our leaders protected the freedom to have those differences. Since 2012, same-sex couples all over the state have been free to act on their beliefs about marriage, but because I follow the Bible’s teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, I am no longer free to act on my beliefs.

Your offer reveals that you don’t really understand me or what this conflict is all about. It’s about freedom, not money. I certainly don’t relish the idea of losing my business, my home, and everything else that your lawsuit threatens to take from my family, but my freedom to honor God in doing what I do best is more important. Washington’s constitution guarantees us “freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment.” I cannot sell that precious freedom. You are asking me to walk in the way of a well-known betrayer, one who sold something of infinite worth for 30 pieces of silver.  That is something I will not do.

I pray that you reconsider your position. I kindly served Rob for nearly a decade and would gladly continue to do so. I truly want the best for my friend. I’ve also employed and served many members of the LGBT community, and I will continue to do so regardless of what happens with this case. You chose to attack my faith and pursue this not simply as a matter of law, but to threaten my very means of working, eating, and having a home. If you are serious about clarifying the law, then I urge you to drop your claims against my home, business, and other assets and pursue the legal claims through the appeal process. Thanks again for writing and I hope you will consider my offer.


I am amazed that the attorney general is really going to press this. I am even more amazed at Mrs. Stutzman’s courage. The case will be on appeal very soon, and we will be following very closely. In the meantime, pray for Barronelle. She has chosen the difficult path, and she really is risking everything to follow her Christian conscience.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Proverbs 23:23  Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

2Timothy 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
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« Reply #18 on: February 27, 2015, 10:43:05 am »

Washington State Florist refuses attorney general’s options to settle lawsuit over same-sex weddings
2/22/15
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/22/florist-rejects-washington-attorney-generals-deal-/
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« Reply #19 on: February 27, 2015, 10:47:00 am »

Philippians 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
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« Reply #20 on: February 27, 2015, 06:35:59 pm »

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/02/27/anti-gay-marriage-bakery-gone/24133651/
2/27/15
Owners who refused cake for gay couple close shop

INDIANAPOLIS — A bakery that drew protests for refusing to prepare a cake for a gay couple has closed its doors.

The 111 Cakery was still profitable, said co-owner Randy McGath. But McGath's 45-year-old wife, Trish, did most of the baking and wanted more time to spend with the couple's four grandchildren.

The business "was wearing her out," her husband said. She has been taking a break from working since Dec. 31 when the bakery went out of business, he said.

In March the McGaths faced a firestorm of protest after declining a request to bake a cake for a commitment ceremony for two men. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Indiana since Oct. 7.

A TV station here broadcast the story of the rejection, and the next day Facebook and Twitter hummed with outrage. The flap led to a single picketer urging a bakery boycott, but many nearby residents were on his side.

The bakery was at the intersection of 16th and Talbott streets, a hub of gay culture for decades. At least three long-established gay bars are just blocks away.

However, others seemed to applaud the bakery's stand, traveling long distances for pastries.

"We had people from all over — from Brownsburg and Lafayette," 15 and 60 miles away, said Randy McGath, 48.

The ensuing sales spike lasted three or four months. But McGath insisted sales never dipped below their pre-flap levels.

McGath said he and his wife, who attend a Baptist church, were well aware of the neighborhood's gay culture when they opened their bakery there in 2012. They served the gay community gladly for several years but "just didn't want to be party to a commitment ceremony" because such an event reflected "a commitment to sin."

Despite McGath's views his discourse remained civil even in talks with his most virulent critic, the lone picketer Todd Fuqua, both he and Fuqua said.

"There was zero hate here," said McGath, who is now selling recreational vehicles. "We were just trying to be right with our God. I was able to speak to many homosexuals in the community and to speak our opinion and have a civil conversation. I'm still in touch with some."

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« Reply #21 on: March 03, 2015, 11:41:03 am »

Trial Begins for Imprisoned Evolutionary Foe Fighting New Charge, Possible Life Behind Bars

An imprisoned creation science evangelist and Baptist minister who refuted evolutionary theory and who has served eight years of a ten-year prison sentence faced trial in Florida today as he fights a new charge that could put him behind bars for life.

Kent Hovind, the founder of Creation Science Evangelism out of Pensacola, Florida, has been incarcerated since 2007 over 58 federal counts, 45 of which centered on alleged “structuring,” a term that refers to breaking up one’s banking transactions into smaller amounts in order to avoid reporting.

In regard to Hovind’s specific charges, the minister and his wife had made dozens of cash withdrawals of just over $9,000 each over a year’s time, and the government asserted that he was attempting to “obstruct and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws.” However, Hovind said that he paid for his ministry expenses in cash and was not seeking to evade any laws.

On a blog dedicated to Hovind’s defense, an unidentified banker who supports the evangelist further explained the situation.

“The government selected the top 45 withdrawals (out of hundreds) and claimed each one was a separate and distinct violation, even though none of them were more than $10,000 and no two were on the same day,” he wrote. “They also have no connection with drugs or any other illegal activity. The four times [the Hovinds] withdraw over $10,000 a CTR was filled out but those withdrawals were never charged.”

“By this twisted logic,” he continued, “If you deposit or withdrew $500 from your own bank account every week for 21 weeks, you could be arrested and charged with 21 counts of structuring because the amount went over $10,000. You could be fined $5,250,000 and sentenced to 105 years in prison (even though you never had the $10,000 in your account at any one time and the money was not earned or spent illegally)!”

The government also leveled tax evasion charges against Hovind, who traveled the nation presenting talks about science and the Bible, as he had considered his ministry to be a church and considered himself to be a minister. Churches are not required to file taxes and are automatically exempt under the law.

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But an official with Pensacola Christian College reported Hovind to the IRS, which concluded that those at Creation Science Evangelism did not technically consider the ministry to be their church. The government likewise did not believe Hovind when he said that those who served with him were missionaries but not employees. Hovind also stated that he did not receive any personal compensation from the ministry.

The IRS subsequently ordered Hovind to pay taxes as it would not permit Creation Science Evangelism to be classified as a church, and since it was not registered as a non-profit organization with the government entity.

In 2004, Hovind’s home was raided by IRS agents, and tax liens were placed against his property in the amount of $504,957.24. He filed three separate lawsuits against the government in an attempt to stop the proceedings, which he viewed as harassment, but was unsuccessful.

In 2006, the case went to trial, and a jury convicted him on all 58 counts. His wife, Jo Delia, was convicted on 44 counts. In January 2007, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and remains incarcerated to this day.

Public opinion about the matter has been mixed, as some state that Hovind was wrongfully imprisoned or that his punishment was too severe. An online effort simply known as “Free Kent Hovind” exists to help seek the release of the evolutionary foe.

Hovind has been seeking to contest the lien against his property from behind bars, but now is facing mail fraud charges for doing so—charges which if convicted could keep him in prison for life. His trial began today in Pensacola before Judge Margaret Casey Rodgers, who presided over his original trial in 2006.

According to the Pensacola News Journal, about a dozen supporters—some from as far away as Texas, Ohio and Colorado—stood outside of the courthouse with signs urging the government to “Free Kent.”

“We pray for justice that Kent be liberated at the shame of the government,” supporter Alan Hoyle, told the outlet. “They’ve persecuted a non-violent person who has done no wrong.”



http://christiannews.net/2015/03/02/trial-begins-for-imprisoned-evolutionary-foe-fighting-new-charge-possible-life-behind-bars/
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« Reply #22 on: March 11, 2015, 05:32:49 am »

Embattled evangelist Kent Hovind took the witness stand today to defend himself from federal charges of fraud and contempt.

Hovind - who has attained a degree of celebrity for debating against the theories of evolution and an "old" Earth - used his time on the stand to argue the validity of the charges against him and his perceived persecution at the hands of the government.

In a series of tense exchanges with his attorney, Hovind refused to give short answers to questions about his 2006 conviction for structuring funds and failing to withhold employee wage taxes. Instead, he prefaced all of his responses with details he perceived to be relevant, including admonishments of the government, references to scripture and verbatim readings of pertinent legal documents.

When asked to keep his answers brief, Hovind responsed the most expedient way to end the trial was to throw out the charges against him.

"I'm threatened with 100 years (in prison)," Hovind said. "I want to go through every document that's been presented. The jury is not going to go through all that. They're just going to vote guilty or not guilty."

Hovind and his co-defendant Paul John Hansen are facing a six-count indictment for mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and contempt of court. The government alleges they filed fraudulent documents disputing the ownership of property Hovind was forced to forfeit following his previous conviction.

In his testimony, Hovind said he believed all of his actions were lawful and that he had never conspired with Hansen to commit any dishonest act.

Hovind will be cross examined by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Eggers this afternoon.

http://www.pnj.com/story/news/2015/03/10/dr-dino-kent-hovind-takes-witness-stand-trial/24712901/
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« Reply #23 on: March 11, 2015, 05:35:32 am »

3/09/2015 @ 9:05AM 2,497 views
Pensacola Shows Little Interest In Kent Hovind Trial
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The United States will most likely rest its case in the prosecution of Young Earth Creationist Kent Hovind today and the defense may begin.  It was expected that the government would be done Friday, but apparently they have a bit more to add.

What This Trial Is About

Kent Hovind was convicted in 2006 on a 58 count indictment, which included 45 counts of structuring – the systematic withdrawal (in his case) of amounts somewhat less than $10,000 to avoid currency reporting requirements.  In addition to his long prison sentence he also forfeited  ”structured” funds  in the amount of $430,400.  Real property attributed to Hovind was substituted for the funds and seized by the government and sold, much of it to Hovind’s family members.  Even after losing his appeal in the Eleventh Circuit and being turned down by the Supreme Court Kent Hovind continued to believe that his conviction could be overturned.

One of the ways that Kent Hovind and Paul John Hansen, his codefendant  and trustee of Creation Science Evangelism, sought to warn off buyers of the seizeed property was by filing a “lis pendens” which alerts potential purchasers that there is litigation affecting the title to the property.   Hovind explained to his daughter that the lis pendens would become the equivalent of dog crap that the government would find hard to scrape from its shoes.

The filing of the “lis pendens” is at the heart of the current trial in which Hovind and Hansen are charged with contempt of court and mail fraud.  Kent Hovind’s supporters, Hovindicators as I call them, frame the issue as Kent Hovind having spent eight years in prison for taking his own money out of the bank now being prosecuted for mailing a letter.

The Trial So Far

Much of the government’s case has been a parade of documents and experts authenticating the document.  I have heard it said that much time and expense might have been avoided if Paul John Hansen had been willing to stipulate that documents signed and mailed by him, had been signed and mailed by him.  Instead the jury got to hear from a notary flown in from the Midwest and a fingerprint expert who apparently enthralled reporters Abigal Megginson and Ben Sheffler with his discussion of loops, swirls and whorls.  Abigal and Ben have been helping cover the case on my alternate tax blog Your Tax Matters Partner , which has pretty much been All Doc Dino all the time for the last few weeks.

On Friday two key witnesses were called by the prosecution, one was Kent’s son Eric, who was interviewed by Abigal on Thursday.  Jonathan Schwartz of Interlock Media, whom I am supporting in his coverage of the trial and the surrounding drama, gave this impression of Eric’s testimony

     Getting back to Eric Hovind’s testimony, it was delivered by the perfect picture of a loving son who is athletic, handsome, and connected. Every bit the instantly likable Christian hipster businessman, The kind of guy you want to go play golf with even if you don’t play golf. Still following a spiritual beacon while shrewd enough to keep the ministry going, transfer assets without his father knowing for two years, protect the fiscal health of his mom and siblings, and legally extend his occupancy years after the forfeit order so he and his family members might live rent free in various houses. Eric was collecting rent from tenants which he plowed back into renovations and generating savings to buy back the house he and his immediate family had been living in for forty thousand dollar free of any civil or IRS liens.

The other witness, who may be the one most crucial to the prosecution’s case, was Anthony Jaworski.  Mr. Jaworski put his life savings into purchasing one of the seized properties from the government.  Abigal and Ben reported on his testimony

    Anthony Jaworski, who bought the CSE property at 5720 Palafox St, and had subsequently filed a lawsuit against the United States in March 2013 asking for the more than $100,000 he paid for the property to be returned, also testified Friday. In his lawsuit, which was dismissed, Jaworski said he was subject to “threats, abuse, mail harassment and terror,” including a letter from Hansen regarding the legality of his purchase of the property. Jaworski seemed uncomfortable on the stand and said he just wants to sell the property and move back home to Maryland.

The type of filings that people with beliefs like Paul John Hansen make are sometimes called, perhaps with a bit of hyperbole,  ”paper terrorism”.   Early on I had quite a bit of sympathy for Hovind thinking that the government might be piling on a bit.  As long as Hansen and Hovind were carrying on a paper war with the United States I thought that going after them criminally was overkill.  But Jaworski is a civilian so to speak and going after him with demands that he pay $100 a day to stay on property that he bought from the United States crosses a line in my mind.

Case Not A Slam Dunk For The Prosecution

An attorney with some expertise about lis pendens, told me that it is a very privileged filing.  All that is required for the filing to be in good faith is that there be some litigation affecting the property that it is reasonable to warn prospective buyers about.  Hovind had a case going in federal district court alleging that prison officials withheld documents from him which caused him to miss deadlines in his criminal appeal.  Arguably, at least in Hovind’s mind, a favorable outcome in that case would start a chain of events that would culminate in Hovind’s conviction being reversed and the property restored to him.

On Friday Judge Rodgers indicated to the defense that she might not allow them to put on a “Cheek defense” referring to a Supreme Court decision in which it was ruled that a belief does not have to be “objectively reasonable” in order to show lack of “willfulness” .

In his 2006 trial, on advice of counsel, Hovind put on no defense at all.  He has promised his supporters that will not happen this time and that he expects to be on the stand for three days.  Hovind may be hoping that he can put on the sort of Gish Gallop that critics accuse him of using in creation debates.  Judge Rodgers’s limitations on the type of defense that can put on may frustrate Hovind’s plans.

Unfortunately, my own experience with criminal tax prosecution comes from reading appellate decisions.  None of my team has much experience covering federal trials and Rudy Davis, voice of the Hovindicators, who has been providing multiple reports every day on the proceedings is similarly handicapped.  So I really don’t have a sense as to whether there is anything special about what is going it the courtroom.  Here is Rudy discussing the proceedings with Coach Dave Daubenmire.



Jonathan Schwartz’ report on the prosecutors’s professionalism makes me think it is likely business as usual.

     Watching Prosecutor Tiffany Eggers work, much like a master surgeon, makes you not only want to never cheat on your taxes or fudge a job application.You never even want to walk outside the lines on a cross walk or even think about committing something to paper that might be a slight coloration on the truth.

 And In The Court Of Public Opinion

Hovindicators have been very disappointed in the number of boots that they have been able to put on the ground in Pensacola and have been calling out for a much bigger turnout this week.  Here is Rudy in front of the former Dinosaur Advetntureland seeking to rally the troops.

Steven Gray was in front of the court house filming on Day 1 and you will note in the links in this post that there is not much of a crowd.

A Prophet Hath No Honor In His Own Country

Rudy is very puzzled that in a city with as vibrant a church community as Pensacola – a church community that  Kent Hovind helped make prominent with his world wide video distribution, speaking tours and Dinosaur Advertureland – there is no support for Kent Hovind.  Rudy discusses the phenomenon in this youtube titled “The local churches think Kent Hovind is a tax cheat.”



Jonathan Schwartz was puzzled by the same question and came up with an answer by getting Steven Gray to turn the camera on himself.  Steven Gray, who is 25, grew up in Pensacola.  He was home schooled till the age of 17.  The home schooling was supplemented by science and math instruction from Kent Hovind.  He describes a warm and humorous teacher who was quite inspiring.  Steven is active in his church and still holds a young earth creation view, but along with most of the rest of the evangelical community in Pensacola is not warming up to Kent Hovind’s anti-government viewpoint.  Apparently the evangelical community in Pensacola might sympathize with Hovind’s plight and hope that he is released, but they also find him to be an embarrassment.



A similar perspective might also account for Kent’s fairly tepid support from the broader “creation science” community”.

Other Coverage

Pensacola New Journal has given the trial some coverage.  Here is the latest story from Kevin Robinson.  PNJ ran an op-ed critical of Hovind by Dee Holmes

Kent appears to have quite a bit of support among podcasters and youtubers.  The flagship website of the Hovindication movement #FreeKent covers that quite well. #FreeKent is also calling for more boots on the ground invoking the spirit of Martin Luther King.

    Do you think Martin Luther King Jr. and community said, “Government is right… It’s okay we are treated terribly… Government is correct… Trust Government to do what is best…”?
    WAKE UP CHRISTIANS! You are becoming zombies brainwashed by the very Government that treated blacks as if they were trash.
    Unlike our colored brothers and sisters of the Civil Rights movement, through sophisticated cathartic movie theaters known as mega-churches, American Christians are being entertained by comedian pastors destroying America. These mega-church comedians are creating docile eunuch men controlled by their wives who ‘abhor manly leadership’.
    WAKE UP CHRISTIAN MEN! Stop letting your wives tell you what a man is! Take your ed-hardy shirts and skinny jeans and throw them in the trash! Christ wants you to lead the household! Christ wants you to stand strong in God’s word and LEAD THE COUNTRY!

    The Christian Church, like Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich (phase 3 takeover), is being held hostage by Government – force fed communist propaganda.

    Do you think our colored brothers and sisters let Government spoon feed them KKK fear propaganda?! I don’t think so!

I don’t know what #FreeKent’s “colored brothers and sister” will make out of that.

Bob Baty’s Kent Hovind and Jo Hovind v USA – IRS is fairly remarkable in its thoroughness.

A site called Fogbow – “Falsehoods unchallenged only fester and grow.” –  is dedicated to fighting the “birther movement” (Birthers believe that President Obama is not qualified to be President by reason of not being a natural born citizen of the Untied States).  Fogbow  has a forum dedicated to the Kent Hovind case, because Rudy Davis is a prominent birther, having called for the execution of President Obama as a treasonous usurper.

The Sensuous Curmudgeon - “Conserving the Enlightenment values of reason, liberty, science, and free enterprise” – seems to be dominated by schadenfreude.

Of course, the coverage by Rudy’s LoneStar1776 is a great source for first hand information.  Rudy’s wife Erin has been fielding the calls from Doctor Hovind.  He was on last night and indicated that the defense may lead with Paul Hansen’s testimony.  Hovind now gives a shorter estimate of his own testimony and is projecting that the trial may wrap by Wednesday.



http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2015/03/09/has-pensacola-evangelical-community-turned-its-back-on-kent-hovind/
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« Reply #24 on: March 11, 2015, 05:45:37 am »

Letters: Kent Hovind needs more than an apology

Hovind needs more than apology

Pensacola resident Dr. Kent Hovind deserves more than an apology from the IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

In the U.S. News article dated Feb. 11, AP writer Stephen Ohlemacher reports that Koskinen told Congress that the IRS apologizes and is changing policies to prevent the seizures of individual's cash who have been convicted of "structuring," that is withdrawing cash from one's own bank account.

Hovind has been in prison for eight years for structuring and tax-related charges. The IRS structuring law needs to be repealed, the imprisoned individuals released, and their property restored.

Hovind was due to be released in February but is standing trial because of mail fraud charges as he attempted to communicate "buyer beware" to buyers of his ministry's property which was seized by the government.

All citizens of the United States must realize that they are vulnerable to arrest for simply withdrawing cash from their own bank account.

— Julie Borik, Garland, Texas

http://www.pnj.com/story/opinion/2015/03/09/letters-kent-hovind-needs-apology/24642031/
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« Reply #25 on: March 11, 2015, 10:18:04 am »

You also don't see hardly any of these 501c3 hirelings there to give him support - obviously, b/c they're more concerned with their monetary interests.

With that being said - remember all the hoopla and outrage in the MSM and Apostate churches when Tim Tebow *supposedly* got "mistreated" by the NFL(and forget about the part where there's always been professing christians in professional sports). Didn't Tebow subsequently get employed by Disney(ABC's GMA and ESPN)? Hhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........................
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« Reply #26 on: March 12, 2015, 01:40:24 am »

i was talking to a Brother here in Australia a few years ago who had moved from Tennessee he used to go to the building i used to go to before problems set in and we had to leave. I was talking to him about creation and i mentioned i liked Kent Hovind but he is in jail. He sort of hanged his head down and said that he was a "tax cheat". If one just hears rumors and what wikipedia says about Hovind then one would think that Hovind really did something wrong. i think the government there has gone into overkill their as said, Kent has served his time for whatever he supposedly did i would like to see him released soon.
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« Reply #27 on: March 12, 2015, 10:59:25 am »

i was talking to a Brother here in Australia a few years ago who had moved from Tennessee he used to go to the building i used to go to before problems set in and we had to leave. I was talking to him about creation and i mentioned i liked Kent Hovind but he is in jail. He sort of hanged his head down and said that he was a "tax cheat". If one just hears rumors and what wikipedia says about Hovind then one would think that Hovind really did something wrong. i think the government there has gone into overkill their as said, Kent has served his time for whatever he supposedly did i would like to see him released soon.

No, it wasn't tax evasion Hovind got put in jail for - it was for "restructuring"(which he did with withdrawals). By law, if you deposit/withdraw more than $10,000, then you have to report it to the IRS(which is why businesses et al will "restructure" their deposits/withdrawals by dividing them up to where they'll do so in less than $10,000 increments when they have, let's say, $15K-$20K at hand). The reason why they put this law in place is to prevent racketeering and drug trafficking. Otherwise - the IRS sent out an apology recently to all of the business owners in America that were punished for restructuring their deposits/withdrawals(so Hovind SHOULD be off the hook, and he never broke any laws).

Pt being that this was also another propaganda hit piece that went around - how Hovind got convicted of "tax fraud"(which was NOT the case at all) - not trying to put down your friend or anything, but apparently he merely heard this same propaganda that's been floating around. I bought into this propaganda as well for a long time(until recently).
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« Reply #28 on: March 12, 2015, 09:13:47 pm »

March 12, 2015 | Blog | 1

MESSAGE FROM ERIC HOVIND:

This morning at 10:30 the Jury concluded their deliberation. Around 11:15 the verdict was read before the court. 4 counts were brought against Kent Hovind. Three counts of Mail Fraud and one count of Criminal Contempt of Court.

Count 1 Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud – Unable to come to a verdict
Count 2 Mail Fraud – Unable to come to a verdict
Count 3 Criminal Contempt of Court – Guilty
Count 4 Mail Fraud – Unable to come to a verdict

The Criminal Contempt of Court count contained two different charges. One charge was from a 2012 order and the other from a 2007 ruling from Judge Rodgers. Kent was not found guilty on the 2012 charge but was found guilty on the 2007 charge. This count was from the original 2007 case when Judge Rodgers forfeited Kent Hovind’s interest in the property. The order did not restrict Kent from presenting filings to question this decision; therefore, Kent’s attorney asked the Judge to rule that there were not enough facts presented to the jury to find Kent guilty of that verdict. The Judge said that she would take that under advisement.

Thomas Keith, Kent’s attorney said that in a Federal Case it is rare to see anything other than a guilty verdict. While he would still like the Judge to find that there was not enough evidence presented on the Contempt of Court charge and overturn the verdict, this is considered a huge success.

On the one guilty charge, if Judge Rodgers does not overturn it, there is no limit to the penalty that she can impose. Please pray that she would show leniency during the sentencing.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 12, 2015.

http://freekenthovind.com/2015/03/12/what-we-need-to-do-now-a-message-from-eric-hovind/
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« Reply #29 on: March 12, 2015, 10:12:57 pm »

So the only charge they found him guilty of is criminal contempt of court? And it was from 2007, and not 2012? That's it? And there's a hung jury on the rest of them?

How long are they going to drag out this soap opera they're manufacturing?
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