Neither an Officer, Nor a Gentleman

Aug. 14, 2007— -- ABC News has been following the story of Eric Cooper's many lives and wives since April 2005. Posing as a Navy lieutenant, Cooper left behind a trail of broken hearts, ex-wives and abandoned children. He charged into their lives like a knight in shining armor, claiming to be a Navy officer and a fighter pilot with a business degree, and with big plans for their futures. Women found his charms and uniform irresistible.

In August 2006, Cooper faced the long arm of the law after he was charged with tampering with a governmental document.

Eric Cooper, The Dashing Hero

Like Richard Gere's character from "An Officer and a Gentleman," Cooper seemed like every woman's dream. Over a 10-year period, at least ten women from the Houston area were married or engaged to him. Plus, he fathered four children with some of them. Each woman said she was oblivious to his past relationships, and each was convinced she was his one true love.

Krystal Weber, 21, was in her last year of nursing school when Cooper, then 28, swept her off her feet on their very first date.

"He was telling me all about what he did and how he has all the money he inherited from his mom when she died, a trust fund he inherited," she said. Weber said Cooper also told her he was a Navy pilot who was second-in-command in Houston and had an MBA degree.

The young woman's parents, Jack and Lynn Weber, also thought Cooper was a special young man.

"I was very impressed. He was very well-mannered, very clean-cut. He made a little speech saying that his life up to that point had been incomplete and that Krystal completed his whole life -- that she was the final piece of his puzzle," Lynn Weber recalled.

The relationship progressed rapidly, and Cooper pressed Weber to marry him, she said. The couple married during a weekend trip to Las Vegas, shocking Weber's parents.

Suspicions Raised After Proposals

But Weber and her family didn't know that Cooper had had a lot of practice getting women to say yes. He had been married to at least six women before her.

Brandy Lloyd said yes to Cooper three years earlier. Lloyd, who was 17 at the time, had been dating Cooper for just six weeks when he proposed to her in front of her family on Christmas Eve.

Lloyd said she was still in high school when Cooper began pressing her to have a baby. "He wanted me to get pregnant quite early because his grandfather was going to pass away and he wanted him to see some [great-]grandchildren. So of course I went along with it," Lloyd said.

According to Lloyd, there were clues that Cooper wasn't the man he made himself out to be.

"My family and I started finding out things about him that didn't add up, and red flags were flying everywhere," she said. They discovered that Cooper's truck -- which he said was government-issued -- belonged to Cooper's grandfather.

As in Brandy Lloyd's case, one of Krystal Weber's relatives soon became suspicious of Cooper. Weber's grandfather, a pilot, was shocked when Cooper wasn't able to answer a question about the weight of the jet fuel in the Navy jets he said he flew.

"My dad said, 'You know, that guy is either one helluva good catch or he's the biggest con man that you and I will ever meet," Weber's mother, Lynn, said.

Lynn Weber added that questions arose about money missing from her family's bank account. She did some research and learned that Cooper had a criminal record, had spent time in prison, and had married five or six different women. He also had a pending bigamy charge against him. "I was panicked about my daughter being with him, being married to him. It was frightening. It was terrifying," she said.

The Webers called the Houston Police Department and claimed that Cooper had added his name to the title of a car they had given to Krystal. They asked for an escort to get her belongings, but by the time they arrived at their apartment, Cooper had already begun packing to leave.

It turns out that Cooper had been in the Navy, but only for about five months during boot camp. He was never a pilot, a SEAL or a lieutenant. He had no job, owned no house and never earned a college degree. There was also some question as to his real name. He used various aliases with the women he married: Tyler Eric Lee, Tyler E. Lee and Eric Lee.

Cooper told ABC News there was another side of this story and initially agreed to an interview but then fled Texas after he was charged with the car document crime against Weber. Previously, he had told the Houston Chronicle that he hadn't pretended to be in the military and denied the allegations the women had made against him, saying they were made out of spite.

New Victim

The women told us in 2005 that they were determined to stop Cooper from deceiving others. Unfortunately, after our first report aired, we found another young woman who had been victimized by Cooper months earlier.

Amber Morgan was just 17 years old when she met Eric Cooper in late 2004. They were introduced by a friend who knew Morgan from church. Again, Cooper said he was a Navy officer who was retiring, and that he worked on an oil rig -- hence, why he was gone for long periods of time. This time Cooper claimed that his father was a preacher and that he'd grown up in a faith-based household.

As with the other women, Cooper wore the Navy uniform around Morgan and her family. He proposed in January 2005, and yet another young woman said yes to the dashing military officer. "He was my world. 'You're a princess, I'll take care of you.' For me, I'm like, wow, cause I've never had this stuff before."

Shortly after that, Cooper was arrested on Krystal Weber's charge and Amber Morgan never saw Cooper again, and she had no idea what really happened to him. One month later, she found out she was pregnant with his child. It wasn't until she subsequently picked up a national magazine that she realized he had other wives and children.

Long Arm of the Law

In August 2006, Eric Cooper had to face many of his ex-wives and the law. Charged with tampering with a government document in Krystal Weber's allegation, he faced two to 20 years. Many of his wives and fiancées, including Amber Morgan, testified in the trial and all banded together, calling themselves the ex-wives club.

Prosecutor Dorian Cotlar said, "Instead of being a wolf in sheep's clothing, he is a wolf in a naval uniform." Defense attorney Andrew Williams disagreed, saying, "Mr. Cooper is surely not guilty."

Cooper never took the stand in his defense and he was found guilty. Faced with more testimony in the sentencing phase by his ex-wives and girlfriends, Cooper changed his plea to guilty and agreed to spend 15 years in a Texas prison, giving up his right to an appeal.

Cooper Speaks

Cooper also agreed to an interview with ABC News in the Harris County jail just hours after he'd pleaded guilty. On why he had so many wives and fiancées, Cooper said, "A woman has a mind of her own. She can make her own decisions. These are not 12-, 13- or 14-year-old little girls that look to Momma for an answer. They chose to marry me."

Cooper insisted that he never stole from any of the women, nor did he pose as a Navy officer or use any aliases. "I never claimed to be a naval officer."

When shown multiple pictures of himself in the uniforms, Cooper started to change his story. "OK, it was a lie. ... I posed as a naval officer." Cooper then admitted to the aliases, the thefts and even tampering with Krystal Weber's car document.

So, who exactly is Eric Cooper?

He said that he never had a family upbringing, could not become a military officer because of health reasons, and was searching for something. "I was confused about what a family was. What I did, that's not a family. Having to make a charade to make someone like you, that's not right. I'll admit to that."

As far as the lives Eric Cooper ruined, he apologizes to his wives and "the ones I apologize most to is my kids. I apologize to them the most. For not being the Daddy I should be ... I needed to be."

Cooper's last known fiancée, Amber Morgan said, "Let him get what's coming to him. He hurt so many people. Let him feel the pain we felt."

Cooper has served one year of his 15 year sentence, and is slated for release on July 27, 2020.

This report originally aired on August 11, 2006.