PROVO, USA - A judge on Friday sentenced avowed polygamist Tom Green to up to five years in prison on felony bigamy charges, for living with four women, in addition to his legal wife, in a remote compound in the Utah desert.
The women, who broke down crying when the sentence was announced, vowed to stand by his side.
Green, 53, who claimed he had taken multiple wives for deeply felt religious reasons and traditional but no longer official Mormon beliefs, was also ordered to pay $78,868 in restitution to the state for welfare payments for his minor children, 25 of whom lived with him.
Green was silent when Utah state Judge Guy Burningham announced the sentence. As Green was escorted out of the courtroom he turned and blew a kiss to the women.
The case is believed to be the first against a polygamist in the United States in nearly 50 years and put the spotlight on Utah, where plural marriages once thrived among Mormon pioneers who settled there, although both the church and the state have banned the practice for a century.
Green has also been charged with first-degree felony rape of a child for allegedly having sexual relations in 1986 with a 13-year-old girl whom he married, an offense carrying a prison term of five years to life. No trial date has been set for the rape charge, which was severed from the bigamy charge.
Before he was sentenced he spoke for 18 minutes, defending his way of life. "The fruit of this family is good. if the fruit is good the tree that brought them is good. Utah's not going to be any safer if I'm in jail," he said.
The judge sentenced Green to five years for each of five felony counts -- four for bigamy and one for nonsupport of a child -- but ordered the sentences be served at the same time rather than consecutively.
Each of the five women spoke on Green's behalf. "He's always been here for us. We f he has to go to prison I'll be there waiting when he gets out," his wife LeeAnn told the judge before sentencing.
Green's lawyer John Bucher said his client had to stick with his family. "He may have created this mess, but to walk away from his family would be worse. This is a gentle and kind man who practices a lifestyle they don't like and he talks about it."
JUDGE, PROSECUTOR DESCENDED FROM POLYGAMISTS
At times the hearing sounded like a history lesson of Utah, which was settled by Mormons fleeing religious persecution and where polygamy was once intertwined with the local culture.
Juab County prosecutor David Leavitt, brother of Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, noted his polygamist heritage as did the judge.
Leavitt called his role in the case the "ultimate irony" because he also descended from polygamous ancestors.
Green reminded the judge that Green's eldest daughter, whose mother is not among the five with whom he has been living, and the judge share a common polygamous ancestor.
Judge Burningham acknowledged that fact, but reminded Green Utah could only become a U.S. state after it outlawed polygamy in 1896 in its state constitution.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Mormon religion is formally known, banned the practice of polygamy and ex-communicates members who practice it.
The prosecution had argued during the trial that Green married women in their teens and then divorced them, but continued living with them as part of a welfare fraud scheme. Officials said only the first marriage was valid and the next four were bigamous. The five included two sets of sisters.
Green tried to support the family by selling magazine subscriptions, but a run of bad luck made it difficult to make ends meet, he testified during the trial in May.
Green's wife Linda told reporters later that her husband was prosecuted for something others are also doing.
"Thousands of families are living this way. Ours has been chosen because we spoke out. I think it's unfair they go after one polygamist and leave the rest alone," she said.
During the trial prosecutors showed jurors videotapes of television interviews Green gave, espousing polygamy. During Friday's hearing they showed the judge tapes of interviews Green gave after the trial where he continued to support taking multiple wives.
Green's attorney, John Bucher, hurriedly left the courtroom, but Linda, one of Green's wives, vowed her husband would appeal the sentence.
During the hearing Green turned over to the court a check for $20,000 in partial payment of the restitution order.
19:30 08-24-01
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