A prominent 70-year-old rabbi from Lakewood, New Jersey who specialises in divorce proceedings was meted a 10-year prison sentence for leading a gang to conspire in kidnapping and torturing Jewish husbands who resist divorce.
Rabbi Mendel Epstein, known to many as "Prodfather," was convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping in April. He was found charging desperate wives thousands of dollars to torture their husbands into compliance, according to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, CBS New York reported.
One of his accomplices, Rabbi Binyamim Stimler, 40, of Brooklyn, also received three-year-and-three-month sentence for conspiracy as well as attempted kidnapping, said Fishman.
A total of 10 men in all were convicted with Epstein for participating in his schemes. They were arrested after the FBI raided several locations in October 2013, including Yeshiva Shaarei Torah in Suffern, a home in Brooklyn and at least one other location in New Jersey, reports said.
The initial investigation started after federal agents reportedly set up a sting to catch the ringleader and his Orthodox goons.
During the course of the trial, it was found on tape that Epstein charges wives $60,000 or even more to pay for the potential beatdown [of their reluctant husbands.] He and his team also kidnap and beat stubborn husbands until they give their wives a "get,'' a religious divorce document.
Prosecutors said Epstein's goons used brutal methods, including handcuffs and electric cattle prods, to torture men into granting religious divorces. They also pointed to a long list of items the men used that was found inside their mini-van including boots, black shirt, stockings, gloves, a hat or face marks, a blindfold and handcuffs, according to news reports.
Jewish law mandates that a husband presents his wife with a "get" to make divorce official.
Earlier in November, Avrohom Goldstein, of Brooklyn was also sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. Ariel Potash, of Monsey, New York, received a sentence of one year and two months, and Sholom Schuchat, of Brooklyn, was sentenced to time served. Moshe Goldstein, 32, of Brooklyn was also sentenced to a four-year prison term.
