Alleged bigamist told La. woman he was single

The Associated Press

A Galliano shipyard employee whose marriage to a Filipino man turned out to be a sham said he had assured her he had no other wives prior to their marriage in August 2007.

Jamie Griffin said she had helped her boyfriend, Norman Simon, obtain a divorce from a woman living in the Philippines. But prosecutors allege he also was married to two other women.

"If he would have been honest with me in the beginning, I could have gotten all three divorces," Griffin told a Thibodaux newspaper. "That's what upsets me is, if he had been honest I could have taken care of this for him and he wouldn't be in jail right now and he would still be here with me."

Authorities arrested the 39-year-old Simon, a Golden Meadow resident, on a bigamy charge Monday. Police said they believe Simon married Griffin to gain U.S. citizenship. If convicted he could be sentenced to five years in prison. He also faces possible deportation.

Authorities have told Griffin her marriage of 20 months never truly existed because of Simon's other marriages. "It really breaks my heart to know I lived with this man for so long and I wasn't married to him," Griffin, 30, said.

Griffin met Simon, a Filipino citizen, when he arrived to work as a pipefitter at Grand Isle Shipyard in Galliano. Griffin was a cook in the bunkhouses where the foreign workers live.

Griffin said she still loves Simon and plans to help him with his legal matters. But she said she has no plans to marry him again and has withdrawn her request to immigrations officials for Simon to become a legal citizen.

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Information from: Daily Comet, http://www.dailycomet.com">http://www.dailycomet.com