BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — A Florida man who was arrested after his wife discovered he was married to two other women at the same time was back in court Thursday for his sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to bigamy.
The story, which broke earlier this year, got national attention.
WATCH: Florida man who was married to three women at the same time sentenced for felony bigamy
Henry Betsey, Jr. pleaded guilty to a single felony count of bigamy in May.
Bond revoked over out-of-state arrest
After he entered that plea deal, Betsey was arrested in another state, leading the judge to revoke his bond.
When we last saw Betsey in court, he was dressed in a sports shirt and blazer, with his new girlfriend beside him.
But when he arrived for his sentencing hearing Thursday, he was wearing handcuffs and an orange Hernando County jail uniform.
The judge revoked his bond because he was arrested for assault and battery of a family or household member.
The alleged assault took place in Virginia in late June, where Henry and his girlfriend had traveled to attend a wedding.
Three wives met Betsey on dating sites and quickly married him
Thursday’s hearing was all about the felony bigamy charge we first reported in May.
Three Florida women from three different Florida counties all met Henry Betsey, Jr. on dating websites and married him at county courthouses during a two -year period.
“I met him on Match.com,” Michele Betsey said.
“He said all the right things,” said Brandy Betsey.
“He sold the perfect person, when in reality, he was none of those things,” Tonya Betsey said.
Betsey didn’t get divorces or annulments before marrying again.
Last year, Tonya Betsey learned Henry was married to Michele and Brandy Betsey.
“I just started county by county, putting in his name. And that's when I came up with the marriage to Michele and the marriage to Brandy,” Tonya said.
“She found me and she messaged me, and I had no idea that she was actually still married to him,” Michele said.
No database compares Florida marriage licenses between counties
The wives all blame the state of Florida for not cross-referencing marriage licenses between counties.
“There are no safeguards, and I feel like that's part of where the system failed,” Michele said.
“If the counties did talk, it would have saved me a lot of heartache, a lot of money, a lot of stress,” Tonya said.
Michele Betsey addressed the judge at Thursday’s sentencing hearing.
“I am unfortunately still the wife of the defendant. I am not here today just as a woman betrayed by someone I once trusted, but I am also speaking on behalf of the other women involved,” Michele said. “What he did was not a mistake. It was a deliberate choice and choices have consequences.”
Betsey now a convicted felon
Henry also spoke at the hearing.
“First and foremost, I want to apologize to the ladies and I want to apologize to the court administration and to my family and friends that had to be involved in this. Because ultimately this is something that I didn’t wish to be part of,” Henry said.
Because Henry had no prior criminal convictions and his case in Virginia has not been resolved, the judge said he was limited under the law in what sentence he could impose.
“I'm going to adjudicate him guilty of the bigamy offense, which is gonna make him a convicted felon,” Judge Charles B. Merritt, Jr. said. “I'm gonna sentence him to 2 years' probation with 8 days credit for time served. You’re gonna have to do a mental health evaluation, complete a certified battery intervention program.“
Deputies collected Henry’s fingerprints and a DNA sample as part of the protocol following his felony conviction.
Betsey’s former wives and their families and friends said they had hoped Henry would see jail time but were glad to put a difficult chapter behind them.
“While I respect the court’s decision and understand the reasoning behind the sentence, I can’t say I was completely satisfied with the outcome. I had hoped for a stronger sentence. That said, I recognize that the judge weighed all the factors involved, and I accept the decision, even if it wasn’t what I had expected,” Tonya Betsey said in an emailed statement.
“While it was not jail time, the fact that he is a convicted felon, that speaks mountains and I feel like that’s vindication on our part,” Michele said.
She told us she didn’t believe his apology in court. “I'm sure that it was only said because it was recommended by his attorney to say. Do I think he has any remorse? Absolutely not,” she said.
Michele says she’s now talking to state legislators, hoping they’ll introduce a law calling for some type of statewide marriage license database.
“We can take this to the next level. We all here in the state of Florida can learn from this and we can put up safeguards so that this doesn’t happen to other women,” she said.
In addition to that probation, the judge ordered Betsey to stay off social media and dating websites, and he also ordered him not to have contact with his three former wives.
