MANNINGTON, W.Va. A Mannington man has been arrested and charged with violating state marriage laws. Deputies from the Taylor County Sheriff’s Department allege Christopher Carpenter, 28, was already married to a woman in Maryland when he tied the knot with another woman in Marion County in March of 2021.
The couple now lives in Taylor County.
Carpenter’s West Virginia wife suspected he was still married to a woman in Maryland and contacted deputies from the Taylor County Sheriff’s Department for help. Deputies contacted authorities in Garrett County, Maryland, who verified Carpenter married to the woman in Maryland in 2018 and the Union was not officially dissolved until March of this year.
Deputies did verify there was a divorce decree filed in Maryland on March 18, 2024, three years after his marriage to the woman in West Virginia.
Carpenter has been charged with felony bigamy, punishable by a maximum sentence of five years behind bars if convicted.
Carpenter is in the North Central Regional Jail, being held in lieu of a $5,000 bond.