A 48-year-old man from Lake City, Minn., has been sentenced to probation and community service on a rare felony charge of bigamy.
Thomas E. Herman was sentenced last week to two years of probation and 19 days of community service.
Herman and Tamera S. Deno were married before now-retired Washington County District Judge Thomas Armstrong in October 2009 at the county courthouse, court records show. One hitch: Herman and his previous wife, Stephanie Herman of Belleville, N.J., had never officially divorced, according to the criminal complaint.
Thomas Herman was charged in Washington County District Court last July with bigamy and aggravated forgery. In a plea agreement, the forgery charge was dismissed and he pleaded guilty to the bigamy charge.
According to the complaint, the Hermans had separated in May 2009; Stephanie Herman discovered her husband's new status in the process of pursuing a child support claim.
On the marriage license application, Thomas Herman had indicated a date of divorce, but later admitted to an investigator that he and his new wife picked a random date, the complaint says. He said he had signed some papers from his previous wife and presumed that settled the divorce.
When Herman was charged, then-Washington County Attorney Doug Johnson, who practiced law for nearly 40 years, said he had never encountered a crime of bigamy.
For her part, the complaint says, Stephanie Herman is happy now, and in court papers she told her soon-to-be legally former husband: "We have to get our divorce moving."
