Don't Commit Bigamy in Tom Green County

SAN ANGELO, TX — Bigamy, the act of entering into marriage with one person while still married to another, is a rare crime in Texas, but a crime nonetheless. A Tom Green County Grand Jury thinks it is a big enough deal to prosecute, too.

The grand jury noted that Coty Lynn Veach aka Coty Shott Jackson, “while being legally married to Floyd Jackson, intentionally and knowingly live[d] with Jason Veach, a person other than her spouse, in the State of Texas under the appearance of being married.”

Floyd Jackson, who goes by Wayne, told us last year about his ex-wife Coty. She filled out a marriage license application with the Tom Green County Clerk on Jan. 6, 2016 then filed for divorce from Wayne on Jan. 11, five days later. Before the divorce was final, she married the new spouse on Jan. 30, posting a photo of her signed and dated Tom Green County marriage license on Facebook, according to Jackson.

Jackson’s attorney forwarded the evidence to authorities. Coty was arrested for bigamy March 29 but posted a $15,000 bond that day to avoid sitting in jail.

Court records offer a glimpse into the rocky marriage of Coty and Wayne. Coty acquired a protective order against him in Sept. 2015. She filed for divorce Jan. 11, 2016, three-and-a-half months later. The divorce was granted on May 24, 2016.

Coty’s bigamy case and arrest were well reported last year. It did not come to light again until she was extradited from Portsmouth, Ohio and arrived as announced in yesterday’s jail booking report.

Coty failed to appear for her court date on the bigamy charge in June 2017, prompting the long arm of the Tom Green County Law to get her, five states away. Her bail was raised to $30,000 and she sits in the Tom Green County Jail today.

According to the Texas Penal Code, bigamy is a third-degree felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison and can sometimes be accompanied by a hefty fine. The "spouse" of the bigamist can sometimes be fined if they knew the person was already married.