(PNJ) -- Pensacola evangelist Kent Hovind was found guilty on just one of four counts Thursday, while his co-defendant Paul John Hansen was found guilty on two of five charges.
Hovind and Hansen face sentencing June 12, but their followers remain adamant they walk out of jail afterward free men.
Hovind was found guilty of contempt for filing paperwork disputing the government's right to sell his property. The jury was unable to agree on the three other charges Hovind was facing.
Hovind sat impassively after hearing the verdict, his hands folded. Tom Keith, Hovind's attorney, asked Federal Judge Casey Rodgers if his client could be allowed to continue serving his incarceration at either a federal prison camp or under home detention. He's currently under less agreeable circumstances in the Santa Rosa County Jail, Keith said.
"I have no control over that," Rodgers said.
A half dozen federal marshals in blue blazers watched closely as the crowd of nearly 50, most of them Hovind supporters, trailed out of the courtroom. They gathered outside on a the sidewalk where Rudy Davis led them in prayer: "We are praying that he can walk out of that prison."
The crowd of Hovind supporters commiserated for about 20 minutes outside after the verdict. They vowed to write letters to legislators, in particular U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Chumuckla.
Hovind's lawyer said an appeal is likely. He also pointed out that under federal guidelines, Rodgers will now review the trial record and have the option of essentially overruling the jury and setting aside the guilty verdict.
"Were hoping for not guilty on all counts," Keith said.
Hovind is on the tail end of a nearly decade-long prison sentence for failing to withhold payroll taxes and "structuring" bank transactions to evade federal reporting requirements. To pay his tax debts, Hovind was ordered to forfeit 10 properties surrounding his biblical theme park, Dinosaur Adventure Land.
In addition, Hovind and his ministry were restricted by court injunction from filing claims, liens and other actions on the properties.
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The contempt charges against Hovind and Hansen, a church trustee, were filed after the men submitted additional court papers contesting the land's ownership. Among them was a "lis pendens," a document warning potential buyers that the property was under legal dispute and which Hovind described to his daughter as "dog crap" on the government's shoe. It was for those actions Hovind was found guilty Thursday.
Hansen was convicted of the same charge for filing liens against several of the properties the government ordered forfeited, and for failure to appear before grand jury subpoena in August.
The two men were also charged with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud for the act of mailing the documents. Jurors were not convinced the government met its burden of proving the documents were filed with the intent of defrauding the government. Hovind and Hansen have been adamant they believed their actions were lawful.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 12 in Pensacola federal court.
