In the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, multiple Orthodox Jewish rabbis were prosecuted in connection with a federal case involving efforts to obtain religious divorces known as a “get.” The investigation included an FBI undercover operation conducted between 2013 and 2014 in which agents posed as individuals seeking assistance in obtaining a religious divorce for a woman.
The case involved several named defendants, including Mendel Epstein, Binyamin Stimler, and Jay Goldstein, who were identified in court records and federal proceedings as participants in the investigation and prosecution. These individuals were charged and convicted in connection with the federal case arising from the undercover FBI operation and subsequent trial in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
According to court records, defendants were accused of discussing and planning the use of coercive methods to compel Orthodox Jewish men to grant religious divorces to their wives. The conduct described in court filings included allegations of kidnapping and physical coercion. In April 2015, a federal jury in Trenton, New Jersey, convicted multiple defendants of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and related charges following an eight-week trial. Additional defendants were later sentenced or entered guilty pleas in connection with related conduct.
In December 2015, sentencing was imposed on key defendants in the case, including prison terms for individuals convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and attempted kidnapping. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit later upheld convictions related to the case in 2017.
The prosecution was brought by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, and the investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case concerned allegations that interstate activity was used in efforts to coerce religious divorce consent within certain Orthodox Jewish communities.
