Florida man Henry Betsey Jr., 50, has been convicted of felony bigamy and sentenced to two years of probation after it came to light that he was legally married to three separate women at the same time. Each woman was unaware of the others until Betsey Jr.’s deception unraveled across three Florida counties.
How they met and married
According to Florida news outlet WFTS, Tonya Betsey, Betsey Jr.’s first wife, met him on Tinder in late 2020. They married at the Duval County Courthouse in Jacksonville in November of that year. She later told the court: “Meeting on a dating site and the way he portrayed himself, he sold the perfect person, when in reality he was none of those things.”
Betsey Jr.’s second marriage was to Brandy Betsey, whom he met on the dating app Stir. They took their vows in February 2022 in Manatee County. Finally, his third wife, Michele Betsey, met Betsey Jr. on Match.com in November 2022. After just about three weeks of courtship, they got a marriage license and tied the knot at the Hernando County courthouse on November 23, 2022. Michele recalled: “I met him on a dating app. The first time I ever got on a dating app. He said all the right things.”
How the scheme was uncovered
The deception stayed hidden until Tonya, the first wife, checked county marriage records under Betsey Jr.’s name. She discovered two additional marriages—to Brandy and Michele—in other counties.
Tonya then reached out to Michele online, telling her what she had found. As Michele said, “She found me and she messaged me, and I had no idea that she was actually still married to him.” Michele then alerted law enforcement. Betsey Jr. was arrested at his Seminole County residence in 2024 on the charges of bigamy.
Why nobody noticed sooner
Authorities and the women all note that Florida has no centralized, statewide system linking marriage licenses across different counties. To keep his ruse hidden, Betsey Jr. deliberately married each woman in a different county: Duval, Manatee, and Hernando.
As Tonya said: “If the counties did talk, it would have saved me a lot of heartache, a lot of money, a lot of stress.” Michele echoed the sentiment: “There are no safeguards, and I feel like that’s part of where the system failed.”
Sentencing and aftermath
Betsey Jr. pleaded no contest to one felony bigamy charge in May. He was sentenced to two years of probation, along with 100 hours of community service. The judge also ordered a mental health evaluation and ordered him to avoid social media and dating apps. Two of the marriages had resulted in a domestic‑violence restraining order. Brandy said she kicked him out just five days after their wedding. Michele said, “Do I think he has any remorse? Absolutely not.”
Betsey Jr. is now officially a convicted felon, and he has filed for divorce from Tonya and annulments from Michele and Brandy. In court, Betsey Jr. admitted he had no source of income and no money at the time of the fraudulent marriages.
At sentencing, he said, “First and foremost, I want to apologize to the ladies and I want to apologize to the court administration and to my family and friends that had to be involved in this, because ultimately this is something that I didn’t wish to be part of,” though his sincerity was widely questioned.
Published: Aug 4, 2025 04:03 pm