Jury convicts rabbi, acquits son in kidnapping-conspiracy case related to religious divorces
Defense counsel said the facts of the situation had been exaggerated. But a federal jury on Tuesday convicted Rabbi Mendel Epstein, as well as two other rabbis, of kidnapping conspiracy related to the religious divorces they helped clients get from reluctant husbands.
The two other rabbis, Binyamin Stimler and Jay Goldstein, were also convicted of attempted kidnapping, a charge on which Epstein was acquitted.
All three were acquitted of kidnapping in the Trenton, New Jersey, case, and Epstein’s son was found not guilty on all of the charges he faced, reports New Jersey Advance Media.
The convicted defendants could get as much as life in prison when they are sentenced in July. All plan to appeal, reports the Asbury Park Press, and will remain free on bail prior to sentencing..
A fourth rabbi and six other defendants earlier pleaded guilty to extortion and also await sentencing.
The feds conducted an undercover operation that led to the arrests. They said Epstein arranged for a team to kidnap, beat and torture men who refused to give their wives religious divorces.
“Basically what we are going to be doing is kidnapping a guy for a couple of hours and beating him up and torturing him and then getting him to give the ‘get,’ ” Epstein says in one conversation recorded by the FBI. A “get” is a religious divorce required in some Orthodox Jewish communities for women who wish to remarry.
But Epstein’s lawyer, Robert Stahl, said this comment was “just talk.” The defense also argued that a government witness who admitted to a kidnapping framed other defendants in an effort to reduce his own sentence.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “2 rabbis among 10 charged in claimed kidnap-and-torture plot to force religious divorces”
New Jersey Advance Media: “Lakewood rabbi exaggerated force used to get divorces from husbands, attorney says”
