Jo Hovind is a celebrity spouse, best known as the wife of American Christian fundamentalist evangelist and tax protester Kent Hovind. In November 2006, Jo and Kent were convicted in federal court of tax evasion and financial impropriety concerning their Dinosaur Adventure Land business and Creation Science Evangelism ministry. Jo would spend a year in prison while her husband served a 10-year-imprisonment. Get to know more about Jo Hovind and her ex-husband’s controversies and their countless lawsuits in this post.
Jo Hovind Bio
Jo Hovind came to the spotlight following her marriage to Kent Hovind in 1973. The couple had three children between 1977 and 1979: Kent Andrew Hovind, Eric Hovind, and Marlissa Jewell. Jo’s family moved to Pensacola in 1989, where she attended Pensacola Christian College, earning a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in music and sacred music.
In 2006, Jo was convicted on 45 counts of evading bank-reporting requirements after she cashed roughly 200 checks totaling $1.5 million in four years. On 29 June 2007, Jo was sentenced to serve one year and one day in federal prison. She was also to pay $8,000 in fines and submit to court supervision for three years after her release.
Jo and Kent divorced in 2016, and she has been under the radar ever since.
Jo Hovind Children
Jo’s son Eric Hovind has been involved in his father’s businesses since 1999 when he began traveling to present Kent Hovind’s arguments and seminars. Eric joined his father’s Creation Science Evangelism in May 1999 as a speaker. Following his father’s conviction in 2007, Eric took over Creation Science Evangelism which was incorporated with God Quest Inc. with Eric as president. In June 2008, Eric announced the incorporation of the CSE website and CSE blog, changing the format to allow “only positive comments” about his father and CSE.
Jo’s daughter Marlissa trained to become her father’s secretary following the establishment of Creation Science Evangelism. Andrew has maintained a life away from his father’s spotlight; hence there is not much information.
Jo Hovind’s Ex-Husband
Jo’s ex-husband has been involved in several controversial ideologies in the Young Earth creationist movement. The movement denies scientific theories regarding biology, geophysics, and cosmology, favoring a literalist interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative recorded in the Bible. However, Hovind’s ideologies which combine creation science and conspiracy theory, are dismissed by the scientific fraternity as pseudo-scholarship and fringe theory.
Kent E. Howand founded Creation Science Evangelism in 1989 and Dinosaur Adventure Land in 2001 in Pensacola, Florida. Before his conviction in 2007, Howand frequently spoke about Young Earth creationism in churches, schools, debates, and TV and radio broadcasts.
In 2006, he was indicted on 58 counts regarding willful failure to collect, account for, and pay federal income taxes and for knowingly structuring transactions by making multiple cash withdrawals without reporting. In January 2007, Hovind began serving a ten-year prison sentence for failing to pay taxes, structuring cash transactions, and obstructing federal agents.
On 20 September 2021, Howand was found guilty of domestic violence against his estranged wife, Cindi Lincoln. He was sentenced to one year in jail, fined $500, and ordered to pay for Cindi’s medical expenses.
Wrapping up
With so much conspiracy surrounding her husband’s life, it was only a matter of time for Jo Howand got caught up in the mud. Unfortunately, she suffered the consequences but seemingly learned her lesson, as evident with her divorce.
