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Police: Fake Justice Officiated Weddings
March 26, 2009Legal Standing Now In Doubt For Several Weddings He Performed
SEDONA, Ariz. -- Couples who were married in Sedona, Ariz., may soon find their officiator was a fraud, KPHO-TV reported.
Yavapai County deputies arrested a man Tuesday after detectives discovered he was marrying couples in Sedona while impersonating a justice of the peace, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said.
Allen Elfman, 41, performed marriage ceremonies for at least four couples after passing himself off as an elected justice of the peace in the state of Arizona, deputies said.
Deputies said Elfman had never held the position of justice of the peace and had no authority to marry the couples.
Detectives said they began investigating Elfman when they discovered he had performed at least two marriages between September 2007 and September 2008. They also said Elfman charged between $250 and $650 per wedding.
When contacted by detectives, Elfman admitted to conducting ceremonies as a justice of the peace, deputies said. He claimed he was authorized to perform marriages based on credentials he obtained on the Internet from a church called Universal Life Church, deputies said.
On his MySpace page, Elfman has posted videos of his ceremonies. One video is titled, "Allen Performs His 36th Wedding."
His personal Web page, AllenElfman.com, boasts Elfman as a justice of the peace, as well as a mediator and personal investigator.
Elfman was booked on suspicion of fraudulent schemes and artifices, forgery, criminal impersonation, impersonating a public servant, tampering with a public record and theft, deputies said.
This article will probably hurt Allen Elfman's Sedona, Arizona marriage business -- but then again, that's what he deserves, right? Return to San Diego Local News Roundup
