POLYGAMIST RICHARD BARTON: 'DIVORCE OR JAIL'

IT’S A UNIQUE way of avoiding time in the slammer and for a Grand Rapids, Michigan man it may be his only choice. Muskegon County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Hicks told polygamist Richard J Barton Jr., that he had four months to divorce one of his wives, or face time in prison.
Barton, 34, pleaded guilty to one charge of polygamy – admitting under oath that he had married a woman last July while still married to a woman in Rhode Island from 2004. Happily for Barton, his choice shouldn’t be too difficult.
Barton is estranged from his first wife Adina Quarto, of Rhode island, who became suspicious when he ‘defriended’ her on Facebook. Quarto did a little digging and soon discovered pictures of Barton at his beach wedding on
another Facebook page. Enraged, Quarto dropped the dime on her husband. In his defence Barton claimed that he had signed divorce papers in 2007, a claim that Quarto rubbished.
Barton has previous convictions for parole violation, failing to show up at court, home invasion and uttering and publishing in Kent County. Can you believe this guy is 34?  That’s what polygamy does to you.