New York – Three men accused of plotting to abduct and kill a Chasidic man who refused to give his wife a get were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
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26 year old Shimen Liebowitz of Kiryas Joel, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion, was sentenced to two years in jail. Liebowitz has already spent 14 months at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center according to The Times Herald Record (http://bit.ly/2ArO9VM).
It is unclear if Liebowitz’s time served will be applied to the sentence handed down today.
56 year old Aharon Goldberg of Israel, Bnei Brak, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping and murder for hire, was sentenced to three years in jail.
34 year old Binyomin Gottlieb of Airmont, who pleaded guilty to concealing a felony, was sentenced to one year’s probation.
Both Goldberg and Liebowitz were also sentenced to three years supervised release on top of their prison terms.
As previously reported on VIN News (http://bit.ly/2AsQNul) the three men hired a private investigator to orchestrate a plot to kidnap and torture the recalcitrant husband, who had denied his wife a get for ten years, in an attempt to persuade him to free his wife from the marriage.
Unbeknownst to the trio, the private investigator had apprised the FBI of the plot and was secretly recording their conversations which escalated into discussions of murdering the husband in order to end the marriage. None of the plans discussed by the men ever came to fruition.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein did not accept the defense argument that the private investigator manipulated the three men into devising the murder scheme.
“The defendants were involved in a terrifying plot to kidnap, and ultimately to kill, their intended victim,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim. “Fortunately the person they hired to carry out their crime alerted the FBI and now the defendants have been held accountable for their crimes.”
nebech for the Aguna who is still waiting for her Rushe Merishe to give her a GET.
Those three got off too lightly!
I don’t believe these men wanted the kill the husband. They wanted to kidnap and give a few zetzes like they used to do. And it worked.
Hard to understand and to except, how this wicked person Aaron Goldberg got away with 3 years, but no chouse, we need to accept this verdict.
And hopefully other victims will come forward, and he’ll he’ll head for retrial.
So #5 thinks it wasn’t supposed to be a murder, just a kidnapping?
The fact doesn’t change. It’s a terrible problem that men could withhold to give aגט because of money or other little unexcusable demands and there’s no one who can say or do Anything about… It’s just a ridiculous big חילול השם that between ourselves Yidden everyone is sitting with their hands up and watching the sad theater.. The question of מה כח בית דין יפה That the גמרא is asking is so valid…
Do not translate my words that I believe That threatening to kill people Etc is okay, it’s just extremely sad for those mothers and children….
The sentences seem light but (at least for the co-defendants of L.) the recordline states they pleaded guilty, which sounds almost like a plea bargain.
Hardly anyone is interested in the husband’s side of the story. And would happily like to assist in teaching the ‘Rasha’ a lesson.. .And there are antisemites.who would always rule against the Jew. and are not interested in his side of the story…… In Israel the situation is even worse. and men are jailed and stripped of their passports . driving and professional licenses and more. to force a get.. This sanctions usually remain in effect. even after the get.. because of the exobirant spousal and child support they are ordered to pay. beyond their earning capacity.. This resulted in about 200 suicides among Jewish men. The Arabs of course. are excluded. from this barbaric treatment. obviously the judges are not interested to join them in their suicide venture…. And here too. the UN has an overwhelmingly automatic majority against Israel. and demands it give back land to the Palestinians. with complete disregard of security concerns. and effectively putting Israel on a suicide trail.
Committing a crime is never ok. However, why would any man want to hold onto a marriage if his wife doesn’t want him? to me that is pure evil. if there are conditions, deal with it at din torah or court. most of these cases which drag on for years are based on the man holding the woman hostage. Btw, there are some men who are in the same boat. There is no excuse for it. Get divorced and move on!!
The issue isn’t if a husband has the right to refrain from giving a get, the issue is that a single person, could decide on his own that someone has to give a get, and would not stop by any ways and means from getting the job done, including murder r”l
I heard from a respected man that the Tzibur at large must submit their protest to the law system for such light punishment for a would be murderer; it’s unreasonable to let such rotzchim roam our streets!