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By Kent Larsen
Polygamist Green Given Five Years, $78,000 Judgement
PROVO, UTAH -- News that polygamist Tom Green had been given a five-year
jail sentence and ordered to pay $78,000 in restitution for fraudulent
welfare payments spread worldwide this past weekend. The case had already
attracted worldwide attention when Green was prosecuted and then convicted
in May and June, and now the news of his sentence was carried on all major
international news wires, including the Associated Press, United Press
International, Reuters, Agence France Press as well as other local news
wires. The news was carried in virtually every news outlet.
The conviction hasn't been without controversy, as Green and his lawyers
have alleged that he was being singled out because of his high-profile,
which led to appearances in US magazines and on national talk shows like
Sally Jesse Raphael and Queen Latifah. And even in the courtroom, Green
defended his practice of "original Mormonism," claiming that he was being
persecuted for his beliefs.
Prosecutor David Leavitt countered that the prosecution was justified, and
that Green's public profile wasn't the reason for the prosecution, it just
made that prosecution easier. Leavitt, who an LDS Church member and the
brother of Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, is descended from early Mormon
polygamists. He receive death threats during the trial, but maintained that
he would continue prosecution when the evidence is available, "Whenever
someone gives me a provable case of any type, of any kind, I'm going to
prosecute it." he said Friday.
At Friday's sentencing hearing, Green was unapologetic for his marriages.
Asking all five of his wives and the seven of his children present in the
courtroom to stand, Green told the court, "I am not ashamed of these people,
and I'm not ashamed of my relationship with them." He also attacked the
state for making his prosecution possible, "We are just all very sad that we
live in a society where a man can be sent to prison for being a father." In
addition to Green, who took the stand for about an hour, all five of his
wives took the stand to plead for their husband's return home.
Judge Guy Burningham, also a descendant of Mormon polygamists, told Green
when he delivered the sentence that his unapologetic attitude gave him to
choice but to assign time in prison, but he gave Green less than the 10
years Leavitt asked for. Instead he sentenced Green to five years in prison
and ordered him to pay back $78,000 in welfare benefits that the family had
obtained fraudulently over the years.
It remains to be seen whether or not the prison time will change Green's
practice of polygamy. After the trial, his wives pledged to stay together
while he is in prison. They also will try to avoid going on welfare,
continuing to run the family's telemarketing business.
But a Deseret News article before the sentence makes Green's motivation's
clearer, and casts doubt on any change of heart. Born in an LDS family June
9, 1948, Green became enamored of Western and Mormon history at an early
age. He became fascinated with his great-grandparent's move to Canada to
avoid polygamy prosecution.
After serving an LDS mission to Indiana, Green studied history at the
University of Utah and there learned that some small groups still practice
polygamy. "Finding out that plural marriage existed, that blew me away,"
Green said. He there learned about an 1886 revelation polygamists claim was
given to then-LDS Church President John Taylor in which "God told him, 'I
have not revoked this law, nor will I,'" Green says. The discovery led Green
to adopt plural marriage and led his first wife, Lynda Penman, to leave him,
"It was frightening to her. When I explained to her what I believed, it was
a shock to her."
Green was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 1980 and Penman divorced him
the following year. But it wasn't until 1986 that Green entered his first
plural marriage, to mother and daughter Beth Cook and Linda Kunz. Since then
he has married five other women, but Cook left him before 1995.
His mother and siblings are still Church members, and disavow Tom Green's
lifestyle. "I think he's nuts," says brother Bill Green. "I don't agree with
what Tom does -- but he has a right in this country to exercise his freedom
of speech." And that freedom is where his mother and family supports him --
they believe Leavitt prosecuted Tom Green because of his outspoken
appearances on national television, "I don't mind [Leavitt] going after my
brother, only if they go after these other jerks that are doing the same
thing," says Bill Green. "This isn't about polygamy, this is about trying to
get Tom Green to shut up."
Meanwhile, anti-polygamy activists praised the sentence, and believe that
the prosecution is a step forward, showing that it is possible to
successfully prosecute polygamy. "I think Tom did us a service. He went to
the forefront; he displayed himself," said Rowenna Erickson of the
anti-polygamy support group Tapestry of Polygamy. "It gave people an
opportunity to research this, and we were able to bring attention to the
abuses of polygamy. I feel good about the sentence."
But, in spite of the sentence, the court proceedings aren't over. John
Bucher, Green's attorney, says that he will appeal the conviction, and
earlier last week filed a motion for a new trial, claiming that the court
shouldn't have allowed unrelated evidence to be presented. Leavitt is also
not done. He will still prosecute Green on other, more serious charges,
child rape charges because he married Linda Kunz and had a child with her
when she was 13.
Sources:
US polygamist gets five years
BBC News 24Aug01 N5
Man gets 5 years in polygamy case
Boston Globe (AP) 25Aug01 N5
By C.G. Wallace: Associated Press
Brazen polygamist gets 5-year jail term
Chicago Tribune 25Aug01 N5
Utah polygamist sentenced to 5 years - August 24, 2001
CNN 24Aug01 N5
Green heads to Utah prison
Deseret News 25Aug01 N5
By Geoffrey Fattah: Deseret News staff writer
Mormon facing five years for polygamy
ITN 25Aug01 N5
Five years jail for Mormon polygamist
London UK Times 25Aug01 N5
From Damian Whitworth in Washington
Flamboyant Polygamist Gets 5 Years
Los Angeles Times 25Aug01 N5
By Julie Cart: Times Staff Writer
Law: Tom Green is sentenced for having five wives as part of his 'fundamentalist Mormonism.'
Man with five wives gets five years for bigamy
Manchester UK Guardian 25Aug01 N5
Mormon fundamentalist gets five years for polygamy
Manila Philippines Daily Inquirer (AFP) 26Aug01 N5
By Gayen Wharton: Agence France-Presse
Utah polygamist sentenced to five years in prison
Melbourne Australia The Age (AAP) 27Aug01 N5
Australian Associated Press
Welfare-Abusing Polygamist Gets Prison
NewsMax.com (UPI) 24Aug01 N5
United Press International
Utah Polygamist Gets Up to Five Years in Prison
Yahoo! News (Reuters) 24Aug01 N5
By James Nelson
Utah polygamist faces sentencing
CNN 24Aug01 N5
2 men threaten Green's family
Deseret News 25Aug01 N5
By Geoffrey Fattah: Deseret News staff writer
History piqued Green's interest
Deseret News 22Aug01 P5
By Geoffrey Fattah: Deseret News staff writer
Polygamist Green files motion for new trial
Deseret News 22Aug01 N5
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