NEW JERSEY
Newsday
TRENTON, N.J. – (AP) — The lawyer for an Orthodox rabbi accused of using brutal tactics to force unwilling Jewish husbands to divorce their wives says his client was “puffing and exaggerating” when he talked to undercover FBI agents.
Robert Stahl made his claims during his closing argument Tuesday. Stahl acknowledged that while some crimes may have been committed, he said 69-year-old Mendel Epstein was not part of a kidnapping conspiracy.
Stahl said Epstein was “puffing” to put at ease a woman who told him she was desperate for a divorce in order to start a new life. That woman was actually an undercover FBI agent.
Epstein faces charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and attempted kidnapping with his son and two other orthodox rabbis.
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