Houston Man on Probation for Bigamy Sentenced to Prison for Committing Bigamy a Second Time

Houston Man on Probation for Bigamy Sentenced to Prison for Committing Bigamy a Second Time

A Houston man who married three different women since 2019 was sentenced to three years in prison after committing bigamy again two months after being put on probation for bigamy, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“At the heart of this repeat offender’s schemes was a plan to defraud women and take advantage of them for financial gain,” Ogg said. “This man used the church to camouflage his scams and hide from any accountability or responsibility.”

Orlando Coleman, 51, was sentenced last week to three years in prison for marrying a third woman just two months after being put on probation for being married to two other women at the same time.

Coleman held himself out as a bishop who traveled to churches around the country, and prosecutors believe he married at least 10 women in different states.

Bigamy, being married to more than one person at a time, is a third-degree felony in Texas and carries a possible punishment of up to 10 years in prison.

Coleman married a Houston woman in 2021. Five months into their marriage, the new wife found out Coleman was receiving money from a woman in Virginia. The Houston woman contacted the other woman who said she and Coleman had been married since 2019.

The Houston woman contacted authorities. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigated and filed bigamy charges.

Coleman pleaded guilty to bigamy in July 2023 in exchange for three years of deferred adjudication probation. Two months later, while still married to the woman in Virginia, Coleman married a Kentucky woman, committing bigamy again.

After learning about the new marriage, prosecutors with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to revoke probation. At a hearing on March 11, a judge sentenced Coleman to three years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Vanessa Goussen, who prosecuted Coleman, noted that his victims said he was a con man who married them for room and board and whatever money they would give him.

“Run a background check, if possible, or try searching their name on the internet, look at their social media, and ask a lot of questions,” Goussen said. “Unfortunately, many con artists hide behind important sounding titles, and it is easier than you think to get swept off your feet.”

Goussen said it was important to the victims that Coleman go to prison because he took advantage of them and their churches by pretending to ascend to a position of trust and then abused that trust.

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