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Husband's suspicions lead to bigamy charge

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published July 29, 2005

TAMPA - On July 1, 2001, in Ruskin, Ingrid and Daniel Franchini became husband and wife.

Trouble is, the bride was still married to the Sacramento man she wed more than four years earlier, according to authorities.

And it would be another 15 months before a California court finalized her divorce from James Gilchrist III.

Shortly before noon Thursday, Hillsborough sheriff's investigators arrested Ingrid G. Franchini and booked her in to the county jail on one count of bigamy, a third-degree felony that carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.

Franchini, now 25 and unemployed, posted a $2,000 bond and was released a few hours later, jail records show. This is Franchini's first arrest in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

It came eight months after Daniel Franchini, a 34-year-old Tampa printing company owner, went to sheriff's investigators to say he suspected his bride was already hitched when they exchanged vows in Ruskin.

It also comes as Daniel Franchini, who is caring for their 4-year-old son, petitions the courts to end his marriage.

"Annulment is his ultimate goal," said his attorney, Stanley Galewski of Tampa. "He is a good father, and he wants this child in his life and he wants the marriage to be over. That's his No. 1 priority."

Ingrid Franchini's double marriage came to light after she asked Daniel Franchini to help her find her son from a previous marriage, according to a sheriff's report.

At some point last year, Daniel Franchini began to wonder about the timing of Gilchrist's divorce from Ingrid Franchini, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said. Daniel Franchini's attorney said his client's suspicions were aroused by a piece of mail, but he did not provide details.

Franchini went to sheriff's investigators in November, Carter said. They checked records here and in California, and recently sent the case to the State Attorney's Office.

Among the evidence that detectives sent to prosecutors: a California marital settlement agreement between Gilchrist, now 29, and Ingrid Franchini. It states that they married Oct. 12, 1996, and separated in July 1998 after having a child together, Carter said. Records show the settlement agreement was not finalized until Oct. 16, 2002.

In May of this year, Ingrid Franchini filed papers in Hillsborough County to divorce Daniel Franchini.

Galewski said his client was never served with notice that Ingrid Franchini wanted a divorce. Galewski said he didn't find out about Ingrid Franchini's divorce filing until he went to the courthouse to file Daniel Franchini's request for an annulment.

He said his client believes Ingrid Franchini wanted a divorce so that she could marry a third man. Ingrid Franchini could not be reached Thursday.

The sheriff's office does not know of a third husband, Carter said.

Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler can be reached at 813 226-3373 or svansickler@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 29, 2005, 00:50:07]