How Brahman Galanti Met Lyssa Chapman
The story of how they met says a lot about who both of them were at the time. Duane and Beth Chapman had a longstanding practice of bringing people in addiction recovery into their household, giving them work and a degree of structure during what’s typically the most vulnerable stretch of getting sober. Galanti was one of those people. He was working through a recovery program when he came into the family’s orbit, and that context matters — he wasn’t a stranger who turned up at a party. He was someone the Chapmans already knew, already trusted to some extent.
Lyssa confirmed this in a November 2020 interview with The US Sun, describing the recovery-program connection as the foundation of how they got to know each other. Most write-ups on this story either skip that detail or compress it into a single throwaway line, which tends to flatten Galanti into just “the ex-husband who went to prison.” The actual arc is more complicated: he came in as someone actively trying to rebuild his life, through a family that took that work seriously.
After meeting through that context, the two dated for roughly four years before getting married in 2009. That’s a courtship most people covering this story don’t mention at all, but it’s relevant — it means this wasn’t a rushed relationship, even if the marriage itself didn’t last long once it started.
The 2009 Wedding
The ceremony took place on February 20, 2009, at Lanikuhonua at Ko Olina, a resort venue on Oahu’s western shore. Duane “Dog” Chapman walked Lyssa down the aisle, and Beth Chapman served as matron of honor — a rare moment where the Chapman family stepped out of their usual bounty-hunting context and into something quieter and personal.
The whole thing was filmed for A&E, which aired it as a season finale special on September 9, 2009. So the wedding was both a private milestone and, almost immediately, a piece of television.
On the age gap: Galanti was born July 24, 1973, which means he was 35 at the time of the February ceremony — he wouldn’t turn 36 until that summer. Several other writeups get this wrong by rounding up, but the math is straightforward. Lyssa, born June 10, 1987, was 21. That put thirteen or fourteen years between them depending on the month.
Whether that gap mattered to anyone at the time isn’t something that’s been documented. What is documented is that Lyssa was barely past 21, Galanti was coming out of a recovery program and building something new, and both of their families showed up for it in front of a camera. Six months later, their daughter Madalynn was born.
Madalynn Grace Galanti — Their Daughter
Madalynn Grace Galanti arrived on August 7, 2009, in Honolulu, just six months after her parents’ February wedding. She weighed 6 lbs 15 oz, and like most of her parents’ early life together, her birth was filmed for the A&E show.
She’s 16 as of 2025, growing up in Hawaii largely outside the public eye. Lyssa has shared occasional photos and warm references to her over the years, but Madalynn has no known public social media presence and hasn’t given interviews. That’s probably a deliberate choice on Lyssa’s part, and a reasonable one given how much of her own childhood played out on camera.
When Galanti and Lyssa married, he also became stepfather to Lyssa’s older daughter, Abbie Mae Chapman, from a prior relationship. Beyond that, the picture gets murkier. Some sources say Galanti has two additional daughters from relationships before Lyssa, which would put his total at four children. Others reference only three. The honest answer is that the details on any children outside of Madalynn are not publicly confirmed, and the total count shouldn’t be stated as settled fact.
What’s clear is that Madalynn is the one consistent thread in what has otherwise been a complicated family story, and after Galanti’s release from prison in 2020, reconnecting with her appears to have been a priority.
Marriage Breakdown and Divorce
Lyssa filed for divorce in February 2011, roughly two years after the Ko Olina wedding. Their daughter Madalynn had just turned eighteen months old.
The reasons weren’t vague. Court documents and Lyssa’s own public statements point specifically to domestic conflict and Galanti’s methamphetamine use. She reportedly asked him to leave the home more than once before she finally filed, and the couple went through marriage counseling before reaching that point — so this wasn’t a sudden decision. It had been building.
What makes this harder to write about cleanly is that Galanti has never publicly responded. There’s only one side of the story on record, and that matters. Lyssa has been open about the circumstances — partly because the marriage played out on camera during Dog the Bounty Hunter, which meant the pressure of a watching audience sat on top of whatever was already going wrong at home. Reality TV doesn’t cause a marriage to fall apart, but it doesn’t make it easier to hold together either.
The divorce was finalized while Galanti was still years away from the legal troubles that would follow in 2016. Whatever his struggles during the marriage, the post-filing period didn’t represent a clean break from them. The arc of his story through this period is fairly consistent: substance abuse, consequences, an attempt to rebuild.
Legal Troubles and Prison Sentence
The conviction came in 2016, though what exactly Galanti was charged with depends on which source you’re reading. Some describe it as simple drug possession; others say the charges included distribution or trafficking. No public court record has been consistently cited across coverage of this story, and Galanti has never addressed it publicly himself. Rather than pick a version and present it as settled, it’s worth being straight with readers: the exact nature of the charges remains unverified in any source this writer could confirm. If you want the definitive answer, the relevant court records would be on file through Hawaii state courts or the federal PACER system, depending on jurisdiction — and that’s another point of disagreement, since a few sources describe the sentence as federal without citing documentation.
What is consistent across reporting is the outcome: a four-year prison sentence, served through late 2020. During that time, he reportedly took part in rehabilitation programs, which fits the pattern of his earlier recovery work before the marriage.
The practical weight of those four years is easy to overlook in the bullet-point versions of this story. Madalynn was around six years old when he went in and roughly ten or eleven when he got out. That’s not a gap that gets filled in quickly.
Life After Prison — Recovery and Return to Hawaii
Galanti was released in late 2020 and returned to Hawaii, where he reportedly enrolled in outpatient rehabilitation almost immediately. That timeline lines up with what Lyssa has said publicly about him re-entering Madalynn’s life around the same period.
The details on where he landed and what he’s doing day-to-day are thin, but one source is more specific than the rest: it places him in Kailua, on Oahu’s windward coast, and describes him working in building maintenance. That’s worth noting because it’s the only concrete account of his post-release life, though it comes from a single source and hasn’t been independently confirmed.
What does seem consistent across reporting is that he developed practical trade skills during his incarceration — building maintenance tracks with that. Whether he’s working for a property management company, a facilities outfit, or independently, no one has said publicly.
He has no social media presence at all. No Instagram, no Facebook, nothing. There have been no interviews since his release, no statements through publicists, nothing. For someone who appeared on a nationally broadcast reality show, he has stayed about as private as a person can.
That quiet shouldn’t be read as evasion. By most accounts, it looks like someone putting real distance between himself and the circumstances that led to prison in the first place.
Co-Parenting with Lyssa Chapman and Reunion with Madalynn
After his release in late 2020, Galanti reportedly repositioned himself geographically to spend more time with Madalynn, who was around eleven at the time. Multiple sources reference an emotional father-daughter reunion as a significant turning point for him personally, though no confirmed date, location, or firsthand account of that moment has been published anywhere. It’s worth being honest about that gap: what’s documented is that he made the effort to re-enter her life, and that Lyssa has publicly acknowledged it.
Lyssa herself has spoken about his commitment to being present as a father after prison, framing it as something she supports. That’s notable given how the marriage ended.
Lyssa’s own life has moved forward considerably since the divorce. She married Leiana Evensen in June 2022 in a private beach ceremony in Hawaii, and the two have been together publicly for several years. By all accounts, the co-parenting arrangement exists within that context without apparent friction, at least based on what Lyssa has shared publicly.
Madalynn is now a teenager. How much of her relationship with her father she chooses to keep private is entirely her business, and the available record doesn’t say much beyond the broad fact that the reunion happened and that both parents appear to be on reasonably stable ground.
Where Brahman Galanti Is Today (2026)
There isn’t much to report here, and that’s probably by design. As of 2026, Galanti has no social media presence, hasn’t given any interviews, and hasn’t made any public appearances. He’s about as offline as a person can get.
The most specific details available — that he’s living somewhere in the Kailua area and doing building maintenance work — come from a single source and haven’t been independently verified, so take those with some caution. What does seem consistent across accounts is that he’s stayed in Hawaii, remained focused on sobriety, and is involved in Madalynn’s life.
He hasn’t remarried since the divorce was finalized in 2011.
It’s worth being direct about what we don’t actually know: a lot of what circulates about his current life traces back to unnamed sources or gets restated so many times it starts to feel like confirmed fact. It isn’t. The honest version is that a man who served four years for drug charges, rebuilt a relationship with his daughter, and appears to be maintaining sobriety has largely stepped out of public view. That’s a reasonable choice. There’s no indication it’s about to change.
FAQ
Who is Brahman Galanti?
He’s best known as the ex-husband of Lyssa “Baby Lyssa” Chapman, daughter of TV bounty hunter Duane “Dog” Chapman. He appeared occasionally on the A&E series Dog the Bounty Hunter during their marriage.
How did they meet?
Through Lyssa’s parents. Galanti was working through a recovery program connected to the Chapman household, which Lyssa confirmed in a November 2020 interview with The US Sun. They dated roughly four years before marrying.
When did they marry?
February 20, 2009, at Lanikuhonua at Ko Olina, Oahu. The ceremony aired as a season finale special on A&E in September 2009.
Why did they divorce?
Lyssa filed in February 2011. Court filings and her public statements point to domestic conflict and Galanti’s methamphetamine use. Galanti has never publicly addressed the divorce himself.
Does he have children?
One confirmed daughter with Lyssa: Madalynn Grace Galanti, born August 7, 2009. He reportedly has two additional daughters from prior relationships, though no details are public.
What did he go to prison for?
Sources vary — some say drug possession, others say trafficking. The exact charges haven’t been confirmed through available public records, so treat either version as unverified until you check court documents directly.
When was he released?
Sentenced in 2016, released late 2020 after a four-year term.
Where is he now?
In Hawaii, by all available accounts. One source places him specifically in Kail
