GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A Texas businessman police said was living a double-life has been arrested for bigamy for allegedly being married to two women at the same time.
Germaine Gardea, 38, of Grand Prairie, Texas, told his second wife he'd been divorced since 2009. Court records show he filed for divorce from his first wife the same day he married his second wife, but the paperwork was never finalized because Gardea failed to appear at court proceedings, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday.
The man's first wife had no idea the other woman existed and it is unclear whether she ever knew Gardea filed for divorce. The ruse was exposed when the second wife became suspicious of Gardea's involvement with the first wife and called her.
Gardea had apparently forged a divorce decree and gave it to his second wife as proof he'd been divorced. When the second wife showed the decree to Gardea's first wife, she said her signature was a fake. A check of legal records shows it was never filed.
He has been charged with bigamy, a third-degree felony in Texas, and was released on $2,000 bond.
