Three Bigamy Cases Surface Since January in Frederick County, MD

Most newlyweds look to their first anniversary with happiness. Grant Nelson probably looks toward his on April 20 with stomach-churning, kicked-in-the-gut pain. Days after his 2007 nuptials at the Frederick County MD Courthouse, Nelson learned his "wife," Leah Erlandson, wasn't his wife at all. Erlandson was still married to another man.

Unbeknownst to Nelson as he and the 5-foot-2 brunette exchanged rings and "I dos" that Friday, Erlandson was committing bigamy -- the act of marrying someone while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a felony in Maryland punishable by a maximum of nine years in prison.

The matrimonial misdeed came to light Feb. 27 in Frederick County Circuit Court when Erlandson, 20, pleaded guilty, precluding the need for a trial.

She apologized to Nelson for her immature behavior. "I'm really sorry," she said. "I wish I could take this all back."

Although bigamy cases aren't standard court fodder, they aren't unheard of either.During his 12 years as the county's state's attorney, Scott Rolle recalls three. Typically, the crime occurs by accident or through negligence for failing to file necessary paperwork, he said.

An equal number of cases have surfaced since January 2007, when Charlie Smith became the county's top prosecutor. One of those was prosecuted as fraud by the federal government. Defendants and victims involved in local bigamy cases either could not be reached or declined to comment.

In one case during Smith's tenure, William Allen Moats drew laughter as Circuit Court Judge G. Edward Dwyer Jr. sent him to jail for a year in February 2007.

Blaming his dual marriages on drugs, the 36-year-old Hagerstown man said he thought being married to two women simultaneously was punishment enough.

"Marriage is hell. Divorce is hell, your honor," he testified. "Until last week, I couldn't even remember my second wife's last name."

Sentenced a year after Moats, James A. Kyem, 52, of Frederick, took his lumps from federal authorities for a fraud scheme that had him marrying nine immigrant women for money. He married one of the women in Frederick.

In November, Kyem pleaded guilty to perjury, marriage and passport fraud. His marriages spanned 23 years in five U.S. states and his native country of Ghana.

Following a plea agreement, U.S. District Court Judge Andre M. Davis sentenced Kyem to a year. Finding Erlandson guilty in February, Circuit Court Judge Julie Stevenson Solt suspended a three-year prison sentence.

Beyond the suspended sentence, Solt's punishment allowed Erlandson a chance to ponder her crime while completing 80 hours of community service. "This is serious, but I don't think that jail is appropriate," Solt said. "While we don't usually get bigamy cases, the court can certainly understand Mr. Nelson's feeling of betrayal."

Betrayal doesn't begin to describe the effect Erlandson's deceit has had on Nelson, he testified. It's affected his entire life. "I've lost pieces of myself, and I can't get them back," he said. "I'm trying to find the person I was before, but this has definitely changed me."

Under traditional anniversary etiquette, brides and grooms are encouraged to mark their first year with gifts of paper. That's a gift Nelson would appreciate receiving -- annulment papers. In court Feb. 27, Solt ordered Erlandson to help make that happen.

By Kate Leckie of The Frederick News-Post