'Wolf in a naval uniform' convicted of altering car title

It only took a jury an hour and a half yesterday to convict Eric Cooper, a bigamist accused of lying to a string of ex-wives and girlfriends, of a crime unrelated to any of that. Cooper was found guilty of tampering with one of his ex-wives' car title by signing his name without permission and forging her father's name on the title. And that's not so interesting — but the accusations of womanizing and lying are, and they started to come out when the string of jilted women began testifying.

Five of Cooper's former wives and lovers testified Tuesday: Four of them said they had been married to him, and the fifth said she gave birth to his son last year. All of them testified they recognized a white naval uniform as one similar to an outfit Cooper — who served briefly in the Navy in the 1990s, but reportedly claimed to be a naval officer as recently as a couple of years ago — wore. Prosecutors had gotten the outfit from one of the women, who said Cooper left it at her house when their relationship went sour.

Among yesterday's witnesses were April James of Conroe, whom Cooper married in 1999 while James was a junior in high school. She said he told her he was an engineer at Mobil Oil in The Woodlands, but James said she and her mother called Mobil and no one there knew who Cooper was. The marriage ended when Cooper was arrested for stealing a credit card from one of James' in-laws. Jennifer Smith, another former wife of Cooper's, said she met Cooper on a dating website and he claimed to be a Navy lieutenant stationed in downtown Houston. Smith said Cooper, who claimed to have an MBA from the Naval Academy, proposed two or three weeks after they started dating and pressed her to change her last name on banking and credit accounts. The testimony, which could factor into state District Judge Mike Wilkinson's decision on Cooper's sentencing, was apparently so interesting that three jurors stuck around to hear it even though their service was already over.

Prosecutors claim Cooper is a predator, a "wolf in a naval uniform," as attorney Dorian Cotlar told jurors. Cooper has said he didn't do anything the women say he did; his take on it is that they've conspired against him because they're upset their relationships with him didn't work out.

Cooper could face 20 years in prison for tampering with a government document.