On the verge of being released to a halfway house after more than eight years in prison, the popular creation-science lecturer and theme-park creator known as Dr. Dino was convicted in March on new charges in his tax-related case.
A federal judge, however, acquitted Kent Hovind on Monday of the March conviction for contempt of court and on Tuesday dismissed mail fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with court filings on land seized by the federal government in his case.
“There is no question the government presented substantial evidence at trial from which a reasonable jury could have found that Hovind caused lis pendens to be filed on several of the properties identified in the forfeiture order,” Rodgers wrote in her order granting the acquittal. “The question though is whether Hovind’s conduct – particularly, the filing of the lis pendens – was clearly prohibited by the forfeiture...