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Man with 5 wives gets 5 years in prison
©New York Times
© St. Petersburg Times, PROVO, Utah -- After his five current wives made desperate pleas to keep him out of prison, Tom Green was sentenced Friday to a relatively light term, five years, for his conviction in June on four counts of bigamy and one count of criminal non-support. The sentence was half as long as David Leavitt, the Juab County prosecutor, had sought and a fifth of the 25 years Green could have received under state sentencing guidelines -- five years on each charge. But Judge Guy Burningham, who presided over Green's trial, said he was convinced by a $20,000 check Green gave the court Friday as a down payment on $78,868 he owes the state for helping to support his wives, three of whom are pregnant, and their 26 other children living with them. The sentence seemed to displease both sides. Leavitt left the courtroom without speaking to reporters, and the various Greens, some of them weeping as they had in court, affirmed their belief that their husband was unfairly prosecuted and made subject to laws that they, as polygamists, believed to be wrong. "When you choose to live your religion and it happens to be against the law, you have to make yourself accountable," Linda Green, the fourth of 10 women Green has married over the years, told reporters after he was taken into custody. "I guess that's what we wives have done." The sentencing hearing, like the trial in June, focused on two major elements. The first was Utah law, which outlawed plural marriages in 1896 as a condition of statehood. The second was Green's eagerness to speak publicly about his choice of religion -- Mormon Fundamentalism, which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints contends does not exist -- and the polygamous lifestyle as taught by his church. State officials estimate that as many as 30,000 Utah residents live in plural marriages. But Green, 53, was the first polygamist in 50 years to be prosecuted, they have said, largely because in his frequent media interviews he described an illegal lifestyle that he fully embraces. In pronouncing the sentence, Burningham told Green that he had the right to believe what he wanted but that the state had the right to intercede when those beliefs violated the law. "Religious beliefs are not a defense for a criminal act," the judge said. Addressing the court for 17 minutes, Green remained unbowed, portraying himself not only as a good husband and father but also as a deeply devout man who would never betray the teachings of his religion. "I cannot back away from my beliefs, my practices or my family," he told the court. "For the state to say polygamy is destructive to society is an insult. This state was derived from polygamy." After Green spoke, each of his wives -- Hannah, Shirley, LeeAnn, Cari and Linda -- addressed the court for several minutes, trying to convince Burningham that their husband was a law-abiding man, a loving husband and a doting father. They also described themselves as willing partners in polygamy as a way to discredit the common perception that polygamist men prey on women much younger than themselves. All of Green's wives are younger than he is. "He is not a sexual predator," said Hannah Green, crying. "If he was, not a single one of us would be here today." In arguing that Green should receive at least 10 years in prison, a term supported by the investigators who wrote presentencing reports for the court, Leavitt described Green as an irresponsible leech who relied on his family and taxpayers to support an ever-growing family. Leavitt, a younger brother of Utah's governor, Michael O. Leavitt, used charts and graphs to show that through the family business, selling magazine subscriptions, Green generated only a small percentage of the overall income and, thus, his absence would have little bearing on his family's finances. Leavitt also said that as long as monogamy is public policy, and Green vows never to change his lifestyle, then he "has to be held accountable" for breaking the law. Burningham said he had been inclined to agree with Leavitt's request for a longer term, until Green proffered the $20,000 and promised to make arrangements to repay the rest. The wives said they appreciated the judge's open-mindedness.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
