After a 20-year scheme of defrauding and marrying at least 10 women, a Texas man has been sentenced to three years in prison. Orlando Coleman, 51, traveled to small Black churches across America to meet women, according to prosecutors. The Houston man gained their trust by claiming to be a pastor, a bishop, and the founder of several churches.
Prosecutors said Coleman would propose to a woman and then move in with her and let her support him. Some of the women later filed for divorce when Coleman left the area. “This man used the church to camouflage his scams and hide from any accountability or responsibility,” said Kim Ogg, Harris County district attorney.
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Last July, Coleman received probation after pleading guilty to bigamy, a third-degree felony in Texas. But shortly afterward, he married yet another woman, leading to the revocation of his probation. On March 11, Coleman received a three-year prison sentence.
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Coleman’s “long con” started unraveling in 2021. The Texas man’s newest bride, from Houston, learned that Coleman was receiving money from a Virginia woman. The two women connected on Facebook, exchanging stories and documents. Then the Houston woman contacted authorities.
Coleman maintained numerous profiles on Facebook, where he claimed to be a presiding bishop, a church founder, and “a Pentecostal Preacher known for his vast wisdom in matters of church protocol.”
During sentencing last summer, Coleman said he thought his previous marriage had ended via annulment or divorce. He also claimed to be a survivor of childhood sexual abuse who “didn’t know love on any level” while growing up.
Coleman signed a letter to the court with the initials “PhD, ThD, DD,” but prosecutors said no evidence exists that he earned any of those degrees.
Two months after receiving probation, Coleman wed a Kentucky woman while still married to the Virginia woman. A judge, after agreeing to the prosecutors’ motion to revoke bail, sentenced Coleman to three years in prison.
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While requesting continued probation, Coleman asked the court to “not only judge my case by my heart.” He said he hadn’t expected his latest wife to “come into my life and become my everything.”
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Prosecutors said Coleman’s victims supported the move to revoke bail. “They were very upset,” said Assistant District Attorney Vanessa Goussen. “They wanted him to go [to] prison because they felt this person abused their trust based on a title, and they believed he would do it again.”
