From left, Amanda Hovanec, Anita Green and Anthony Theodorou
TOLEDO — It took two extra days for Anthony Theodorou, 36, to learn his sentence for his role in the 2022 death of Timothy Hovanec in Auglaize County, but on Thursday morning, the South African learned he will spend the next 18 years in federal prison, along with an additional three years of supervised release.
Theodorou was originally scheduled to appear Tuesday before Judge James Knepp II in the U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio for sentencing, but his appearance was moved to Thursday after sentencing hearings for Amanda Hovanec, the victim’s wife who was romantically involved with Theodorou, and Anita Green, Amanda’s mother, took up the entire day, lasting about six hours each.
Theodorou was sentenced on charges of conspiracy to import a controlled substance, importation of a controlled substance, conspiracy with intent to distribute a controlled substance and distribution of a controlled substance, that sentence having been reduced from a potential life sentence thanks to a plea agreement. Still, Knepp made it clear during Thursday’s sentencing that while the sentence was on drug charges, it was essentially centered around one thing.
“Make no mistake. You participated in a murder,” he told Theodorou. “This is a murder case masquerading as a drug case.”
The drug charges stem from Theodorou sending a Schedule II controlled substance, etorphine, to Amanda Hovanec in 2022 with the intent that it be used to kill her husband, with whom she was going through a divorce and child custody battle.
Hovanec was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years in prison, while Green received a prison sentence of 10 years and one month. The three must also jointly pay restitution totaling $2,108,559.36.
Theodorou’s timeline testimony
According to testimony from Theodorou during Green’s sentencing hearing Tuesday, he had met Hovanec in August 2019 at a restaurant in Pretoria, South Africa, while the Hovanecs were living there due to the husband’s work with the U.S. Department of State. By November of that year, their relationship became romantic, continuing even after the Hovanecs returned to the United States in 2020, he said.
After the Hovanecs began divorce proceedings at the end of 2020, Theodorou said, Amanda called Theodorou to ask him to find someone willing to kill her husband. According to testimony, over the following year, Theodorou used an acquaintance, who was not named, to find two potential hitmen, with neither arrangement panning out. His acquaintance then agreed to do the job himself and suggested the etorphine, Theodorou said.
After obtaining the drug, which is also known as “M99” and is typically used as an animal tranquilizer, Theodorou shipped it to Hovanec in Ohio after she instructed him how to hide it in a package containing jewelry and other items, he said. He then made travel arrangements in the spring of 2022 for him and his acquaintance to go to the United States so the acquaintance could kill Hovanec.
The acquaintance backed out before their departure, Theodorou said, leaving him to travel to America alone. After a brief visit, Theodorou said during testimony that he then traveled to the United Kingdom to visit his daughter from a previous relationship before deciding to fly back to Ohio to spend a “holiday” with Hovanec and her three daughters.
During Theodorou’s second stay in Ohio, Timothy Hovanec traveled from his home in Virginia to Wapakoneta to attend a custody hearing on April 22, during which it was ruled that he would have custody of the daughters that weekend and would then have custody of the daughters for two months starting that May. Theodorou then testified that Amanda Hovanec was extremely upset and said she would kill her husband.
The next day, Hovanec and Theodorou obtained a variety of gift items for the daughters that would be used to distract them when their father dropped them off, Theodorou testified. He also testified that Green gave them tools and equipment to pre-dig a grave that Saturday evening, taking them to a wooded area close to the intersection of Blank Pike and Wrestle Creek Road.
According to footage from a dash camera in Timothy Hovanec’s vehicle shown during Hovanec’s sentencing Tuesday, Hovanec and Green were waiting at the driveway as he pulled in with the girls. After they ran into the house with Green, Timothy Hovanec could be heard in the audio saying, “Did you just assault me?” as Amanda Hovanec injected the etorphine into his shoulder.
A scuffle then ensued, with Timothy Hovanec exiting the vehicle and making his way in front of it. Amanda Hovanec could then be seen struggling to get him down to the ground, eventually wrestling him down until he stopped moving.
Theodorou testified that once the children were bathed and in bed, he helped Amanda load her husband’s body, which had been wrapped in plastic, into her vehicle, with Green then driving them to the burial site. Theodorou also drove Amanda Hovanec’s vehicle to Dayton, while she drove her husband’s vehicle to an area near Highland Park, where she then wiped down the vehicle, removed any of her husband’s belongings and removed the license plates.
Once employees at the Wapakoneta Best Western Inn found Timothy Hovanec had left items in his room, an investigation into his disappearance began. Once the vehicle and its dash camera footage were found, Hovanec, Green and Theodorou were confronted about the footage and later taken into custody.
During that confrontation, Theodorou admitted to his involvement and led investigators to where Hovanec was buried. That cooperation played a part in his reduced sentence, Knepp said.
“I believe that you are sorry to your core,” he told Theodorou. “The only reason we’re talking about the number (of years in prison) we’re talking about is because of your contrition and cooperation.”
Statements before sentencing
Prior to Knepp rendering Theodorou’s sentence, both Theodorou and Timothy Hovanec’s brother, Daniel, read statements to the court. During his statement, Hovanec acknowledged Theodorou’s role in helping provide closure for his family but still asked for a “significant” sentence.
“He helped in the murder, but he also helped in the investigation,” he said. “This does not absolve Anthony for his role in murdering my brother.”
With his mother and aunt in the courtroom, having made the trip from South Africa, Theodorou broke down during his statement, expressing his shame at what his actions have done to both the Hovanec family and his own.
“From the bottom of my heart, I’m so, so sorry that I allowed this to happen,” he said. “I would trade my life for (Timothy’s) in a heartbeat.”
He concluded his statement reflecting on the fact that his family has been shamed by his actions and how he will not be able to have time with his own daughter as a result.
“It feels like I have passed away and am still breathing at the same time,” he said.
After the hearing concluded, Theodorou tearfully embraced his mother and aunt before being handcuffed and led away.
