HOUSTON – The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has charged a Houston man with bigamy, the crime of being married to more than one person, which is outlawed in all 50 states.
Orlando Coleman, 49, is free on a $5,000 bond. His next court date is in February.
Coleman, according to the Houston Police Department, is simultaneously married to a Houston area woman and a woman who currently resides in North Carolina. Those marriages took place in 2021 and 2019, respectively.
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The Houston wife said she met Bishop Coleman at a church, now defunct, on the east side of Houston.
KPRC 2 Investigates is not identifying the woman, per her request.
“I just thought he was a real man of God, that’s how he portrayed himself,” she said in an interview with KPRC 2.
The romance between the two escalated quickly, the woman said. They were married within a month.
But the marriage unraveled just as quickly, the Houston area woman said.
“He always wanted me to buy him stuff, but I had bills,” the woman said.
She also noted that Coleman was not interested in consummating the marriage.
“We slept in separate rooms,” she said.
Public documents appear to show that Coleman remains married to several other women, too.
Two of those additional marriages happened in Harris County in 2017, approximately six months apart.
KPRC 2 Investigates was unable to locate evidence that either of those marriages ended in divorce.
Coleman appears to make a living in the funeral industry. The last known address he provided to police was a funeral home located in southwest Houston. Two people who work at the funeral home said they had never heard of Coleman.
KPRC 2 Investigates found Coleman staying at a rental home in northeast Houston.
Coleman admitted to being married to two people at once, but said that it was the earlier wife’s fault.
“Apparently, the last one that I was supposed to be divorced from didn’t do what they were supposed to do, which made me in the predicament I was in,” Bishop Coleman, said.
Coleman declined the opportunity to discuss the matter further.
“I feel embarrassed. I feel deceived. I mean, I still try to keep going. I try to keep my head up,” the Houston wife said.
A Judge ordered Coleman to remain in Harris County and maintain no contact with either of the wives listed in the criminal charge.
Bigamy in Texas is typically a second-degree felony unless a minor is involved (First Degree). No minor is involved in Coleman’s case.
If a defendant is found guilty of a second-degree felony in Texas, punishment typically ranges between 2-20 years behind bars.