Kent “Dr. Dino” Hovind, founder of Creation Science Evangelism and the Dinosaur Adventure Land creationist theme park in Florida (“where Dinosaurs and the Bible meet!”), and his wife face more than 200 years in jail for tax fraud. (Previous post with background here.) Yesterday, Dr. Dino was found guilty on 58 counts, including not paying an $845,000 employee-related tax bill. From the Pensacola News Journal:
U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers released Jo Hovind until sentencing but denied Kent Hovind’s request to be released. He most likely will be detained at either Escambia County Jail or Santa Rosa County Jail until sentencing.
(Assistant US Attorney Michelle) Heldmyer said Kent Hovind was a flight risk and a “danger to the community.”His attorney, Alan Richey, argued that the Internal Revenue Service pursued his client because of his religious beliefs.
Kent Hovind, whose life’s mission is to debunk evolution, says he and his employees are workers of God and therefore exempt from paying taxes. He pays his employees in cash and does not withhold their taxes or pay his share as an employer.
Link to Pensacola News Journal article, Link to Scientific American’s “15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense”
UPDATE: At Cryptomundo, Loren Coleman draws the link between Dr. Dino and cryptozoology. It seems that Hovind has been funding a search for Mokele-mbembe because, Loren writes, “He felt if he could prove that a living dinosaur species existed, it would overthrow evolution. Of course, such a discovery would do no such thing, and there are many ‘prehistoric’ species that exist little changed today.” Link