By Vanessa Goussen
Assistant District Attorney in Harris County
The Domestic Violence Division of any DA’s office typically handles, well, domestic violence cases. Murders, aggravated assaults, and simple family assaults are the majority of crimes, with the added obstacles of uncooperative, recanting, or minimizing victims. However, there are times when we are entrusted with an anomaly, such as a bigamy case I recently handled. Such cases are not often prosecuted because they are uncommon—we rarely see these types of crimes in Harris County—but like any other crime, when it happens, the victims deserve justice.
Bigamy is the first offense listed under Chapter 25 of the Texas Penal Code for Offenses Against the Family. Section 25.01 states that an individual commits bigamy if:
1) he is legally married and he
A) purports to marry or does marry a person other than his spouse in this state, or any other state or foreign country, under circumstances that would, but for the actor’s prior marriage, constitute a marriage; or
B) lives with a person other than his spouse in this state under the appearance of being married; or
2) he knows that a married person other than his spouse is married and he:
A) purports to marry or does marry that person in this state, or any other state or foreign country, under circumstances that would, but for the person’s prior marriage, constitute a marriage; or
B) lives with that person in this state under the appearance of being married.
Suspects often use deception and fraud to conceal an existing marriage, but neither is required as an element of the crime. The statute also does not require that any monetary damages be incurred or proven by the complainants.
In Texas, bigamy cases are third-degree felonies, carrying a max punishment of up to 10 years in prison. I believe this truly shows how seriously the legislature takes these cases and therefore, I treated this case with that same sentiment.
The background
On August 26, 2021, a deputy received a bigamy call for service, probably the first in his career. A woman, Jeanette, had discovered that her husband, Orlando Coleman, was receiving money from another woman, Angela, through CashAPP, and Angela confirmed that she and Coleman were still married in Delaware.
Jeanette and Coleman met at the very beginning of March 2021 and married later that month. He told Jeanette that he was divorced and that he was a bishop. His bishop status was supported by the way he spoke and the fake regalia he owned. Jeanette quickly trusted Coleman because he was a bishop, and at a mature age, she thought marriage was righteous after almost 30 days of knowing him. However, Jeanette quickly caught her new husband lying to her several times. The first real red flag was that he wasn’t interested in going to work. Jeanette became concerned about how he was earning money if he wasn’t working. He lived in Jeanette’s home and spent most of his day on Facebook. Clearly, things were just not adding up, and it was apparent that Coleman was using Jeanette for room and board.
Jeanette was suspicious of Coleman’s obsession with Facebook (where he added multiple women to his friends list), his unemployment, and his financial situation. When she happened upon the CashAPP transactions with Angela, she decided to reach out to her via Facebook to address the probable infidelity with her husband as well as get answers to her questions. She had no idea that she was about to uncover more than just unfaithfulness. Angela confirmed that she was in fact still legally married to Coleman and sent immediate proof (their marriage license). Both women made a pact to continue uncovering their husband’s lies.
These two women were the forefront of the investigation. They truly made the investigator’s job simple because they had, through the internet and social media, reached out to many other women whom Coleman had conned and victimized—and married. The ladies soon realized that they shared the same story: They were all middle-aged, hard-working women who were heavily involved in their churches and who led spiritual lives. They had all met Coleman through their church or faith-based connections. Coleman posed as a traveling pastor or bishop infiltrating small African-American churches. He used this sham status to persuade women to marry him after dating for a short period. I believe Coleman used marriage to corroborate his status as a bishop but also to ensure that he obtained as much financial gain as possible from his wives. We prosecutors were unable to contact each woman he married, but we did significant research and found records proving roughly 13 marriages in at least seven states. The research was somewhat difficult because not all states and counties record marriage licenses the same way. Also, some of these women did not want to be contacted; they were still suffering from the embarrassment and victimization of Coleman’s deception.
Coleman conned these hard-working women for a place to lay his head every night, money, food, and anything else he could take. The manipulation continued as he jumped from state to state, using the excuse that he was a traveling pastor. While at the new church, he’d reach out to one of his wives for financial assistance, all while starting a new relationship that led to marriage with another woman. His lies were extreme and delusional; he told some women he was a veteran and had many advanced degrees. Based on our research, Coleman had never been in the military and did not hold any degrees.
Coleman never came clean to any of the women he conned. He was a habitual liar and would never admit to any of his wrongdoings. He often used aliases on social media to cover his tracks and remain untraceable, and he’d quickly move on from wife to wife. In court, he originally used a walker and then a wheelchair to approach the bench, which was contrary to the clean-shaven, handsome man these women first met. I believe he used these mobility aids to gain sympathy from whomever he could, including the court.
We decided to charge Coleman with bigamy and not with theft because we understood that proving deception is complex.
A guilty plea
When it was time for a recommendation, everyone initially wanted him to serve time in prison, but we prosecutors were concerned that many of his victims would not want to testify at punishment. Because Coleman’s lies were so obvious now, many of these women were embarrassed and ashamed—they were educated and esteemed members of their communities and couldn’t believe that they had been conned by a vagrant. Looking back, they realized the warning signs were there and were obvious. Thus, after the defendant rejected our offer of a two-year pen trip, we offered three years deferred adjudication. When I spoke to the two main women about the categories of punishment, they assured me that he would do it again, and I assured them that if he did, he would go to prison.
Everyone’s assurances came to fruition when only two months after he was placed on deferred probation, Coleman married another woman in Kentucky. I was in shock and upset with myself that I didn’t listen to the complainants more, and I second-guessed my plea offer of deferred. However, I truly did not think that Coleman would marry again, especially so soon, because the thought of going to prison would be enough to scare him; plus, I didn’t think it was that difficult to abstain from marriage. Apparently, marrying women is the main thing Coleman does in life.
We discovered his new marriage through his probation officer in Kentucky. During his deferred plea, Coleman asked the court if he could transfer his probation to Kentucky, as he had plans to live there, and the judge granted his request. During one of his meetings with his probation officer, Coleman actually admitted that he had recently gotten married. The officer obtained the marriage license and sent it to Harris County, where Coleman’s probation was quickly revoked. He was arrested the next month and extradited to Houston.
It was apparent that Orlando Coleman will not stop taking advantage of women and scamming anyone whose path he crosses, and we all strongly believe it will continue even after serving his three-year prison sentence. He wrote a letter to the judge of the 482nd District Court while he was awaiting sentencing, where he again shifted the blame for his own choices and behavior to the victims. He signed this letter with post-nominal initials indicating that he held three post graduate degrees: doctorate, theology doctorate, and a doctorate of divinity. We do not have any proof that he holds any of these titles, demonstrating yet again that Coleman was doubling down on his lies without regard for his many victims. He has continued to maintain a relationship with a woman while incarcerated, which has been confirmed via recorded jail calls.
Conclusion
Bigamy cases stand out as complex puzzles demanding careful navigation. Charged with prosecuting individuals accused of entering into multiple marriages simultaneously, we are tasked with upholding the sanctity of marriage and protecting the rights of those affected. Many women were hurt by this defendant’s cowardly sham when he posed as a bishop and a loving new husband. He manipulated many women and left them vulnerable and distant from their faith-based communities. His continual pattern of behavior proves his lies will likely never stop, but when they cross the line into committing a crime, we will prosecute.