http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wium/local-wium-895402.mp3
Blandinsville, IL – It's been said, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." A former Macomb postmaster learned that lesson the hard way when he took a second wife.
35-year old Josef Hernandez is charged with bigamy, forgery, and perjury after his original wife turned him in.
Hernandez lived in Blandinsville when the alleged crimes occurred. Police Chief Justin Lundgren says Hernandez created fake papers so that he could marry a second woman, even though he was not divorced.
"He figured out he needed documentation to show the McDonough County court that he was divorced," says Lundgren. "So he created a false document, forged a New Mexico judge's signature, and then perjured himself on the stand in front of a McDonough County judge. He said he was divorced and had documentation and presented that to the Clerk's office and it was in the actual court docket."
Lundgren says Hernandez married the second woman.
Lundgren says Hernandez also tried to maintain custody of at least two of his four children. It was during this time that his original wife took her complaint to police.
Hernandez is also accused of stealing from the Macomb Post Office. He's charged with taking more than $300 but less than $10,000. That case is being handled by the United States Postal Service"s Office of Inspector General.
Hernandez recently transferred to the Mapleton Post Office. He was arrested there April 8 on a McDonough County warrant.
All four charges against him are felonies.