THE first man convicted of bigamy in Utah in nearly 50 years yesterday said he had no plans to abandon his lifestyle - even if he ended up in prison.
"All we’ve been able to plan is to continue doing what we do," Tom Green said. "My family will carry on without me."
After a week-long trial, Tom Green, a Mormon who has five wives and 29 children, was found guilty late on Friday of four counts of bigamy and one count of failure to pay child support. Next month he could be sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. Green, 52, who is also fighting child rape charges stemming from his marriage to his first wife when she was 13, plans to appeal.
He was charged last year after repeatedly appearing on television with his wives.
Utah banned the practice of polygamy more than 100 years ago as a condition of statehood, but the last prosecution was in 1953 when the US government raided the polygamous town of Short Creek. The government has since mostly ignored polygamy in the state. - AP