It wasn’t a plot from “Sister Wives”.
As Michael Michalski showed up in Lake Superior Court Thursday, his case had some doing a double take.
In a courtroom that often sees high profile violent crimes, he was there for being married to two women at the same time in Lake County.
Lake Superior Judge Salvador Vasquez, who has been on the criminal bench since 2003, told Michalski’s lawyer Michael Campbell he may have seen one or two bigamy cases.
It’s not what it appeared, Campbell said.
When Michalski, 51, of Merrillville, went to marry his current wife in 2021, he lied and said his divorce from his first wife was finalized in 2016, according to court records.
It was not.
Michalski was not someone “living a double life”, Campbell said. It wasn’t a “day shift” with one woman and “night shift” with another.
“Is that how it works?” Vasquez said, prompting laughter from the audience.
Campbell filed on Nov. 8 for him to enter a pretrial diversion agreement to avoid prison, which the judge accepted Thursday. Michalski was not a “troublemaker,” the lawyer said. There were no children involved, he just made a “very poor decision”.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Keith Anderson agreed, saying there were not wives based in different states. Ultimately, somehow he got two marriage licenses in Lake County.
“I really don’t know how he was able to get a second marriage license,” Anderson said.
A hearing is set for Feb. 24 to give Michalski’s first wife a chance to testify on his behalf.
An “anonymous” tipster told Hobart Police on Feb. 23, 2022, who started an investigation.
Michalski admitted in an affidavit he claimed to be divorced from his first wife, but never got around to it.
His second wife did not know, according to court records.
Michalski’s first wife told police they married in 1997 and never talked about a divorce. A couple years ago, Michalski said he was taking a job in Flint, Michigan, for “three” months, that stretched to six. He never returned, but kept his things at her house.
Michalski never told her where he was living. She found out about his new marriage from his credit report, charges state.
He was charged April 11 with bigamy and putting false information on a marriage application.
Court records show his divorce was finalized on Oct. 31.
