Multiple marriages

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Woman convicted of bigamy married 10 times, embezzled money from tenth husband

A Gloucester woman has been sentenced for embezzling money from her 10th husband.

Shirley Smith-Smart, 71, pleaded guilty in June to taking more than $11,000 from Kenneth Smart's bank account. Visiting Judge Joseph E. Spruill sentenced Smith-Smart to five years in prison on Tuesday in Gloucester County Circuit Court. If she pays restitution, she will only serve one year.

Smith-Smart is already serving a year in Western Tidewater Regional Jail on a bigamy conviction. In January, she entered an Alford plea to a bigamy charge in Isle of Wight. The charge stemmed from the eighth of her 10 marriages. Prosecutors say she was already married when she wed again.

According to the Daily Press, Smith-Smart's last "real" marriage was her third in 1983, when she married Joseph M. Feinhor in the Dominican Republic. While she filed for divorce, it wasn't finalized until February 1990-- and by then she'd already married and divorced a fourth man. By April 1990, she was on her fifth marriage.

In 2004, Smith-Smart was on husband number eight-- and while he filed for divorce from her, it was never finalized. She went through one more marriage and divorce and lied repeatedly on marriage applications about her age and number of previous marriages before she met Kenneth Smart on the Internet.

Marriages that occurred while she was still legally married are not recognized by Virginia law, Isle of Wight Commonwealth's Attorney Wayne Farmer told the Daily Press.

Once Smith-Smart gained control of her husbands' assets, she allegedly drained the men of thousands of dollars.

Smart testified that since he married Smith-Smart in November 2007, he has lost his home, his pickup, 37 acres of land and $80,000.

"All the stuff she's done to me is unreal," Smart told the Daily Press. "Her personality when I first met her was a great personality. After everything got in both names she just turned mean."

"She just took and took and took," Smart said. "I have nothing left. It's all gone."

On August 5, Smart and Smith-Smart will return to court for a divorce settlement, but Smart is hoping that because of Smith-Smart's bigamy, their marriage will be declared void.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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