Monsey

Orthodox Rabbi Mendel Epstein of Lakewood, and two others found guilty at trial in what federal prosecutors said was an orchestrated scheme to abduct and force Jewish men to grant their wives religious divorces, fail to convince appellate judges to overturn the verdicts.

The Orthodox rabbi from Monsey, NY, who admitted a role in planning to extract religious divorces from reluctant husbands by kidnapping and torture, was sentenced today to three years plus two months in prison.

One of 10 defendants charged with a role in a scheme to strongarm a religious divorce out of a reluctant Jewish husband is sentenced to 48 months in prison.