New Jersey Couple Who Helped Jewish Divorce Ring Sentenced to Prison

federal court trenton nj Image by Wikimedia Commons

By JTA January 13, 2016

A New Jersey husband and wife whose testimony helped convict the leader of a ring that violently pressured husbands to provide Jewish divorces were sentenced for their roles in the ring’s crimes.

David and Judy Wax of Lakewood were both sentenced in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey Tuesday for assisting in a kidnapping, the Asbury Park Press reported.

U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson sentenced David Wax, 53, to seven years in federal prison for luring a recalcitrant husband to his home, where the man was blindfolded, physically restrained and tortured until he agreed to give his wife a divorce. Wax’s wife, Judy, 51, was sentenced to two years of probation for hiding her husband’s involvement.

According to Jewish law, a Jewish woman cannot remarry without receiving a Jewish divorce, or get, from her husband. Women who are trapped in such marriages are called agunot, or chained women.

The Waxes testified against Rabbi Mendel Epstein, the leader of the divorce ring, which was busted in an FBI sting in 2013. Ten members of the ring, including three Orthodox rabbis, were sentenced in 2015.

Judy Wax admitted she and her husband had replaced a blood-soaked carpet in their home to conceal a kidnapping and said she had knowingly refraining from reporting the kidnapping to the police.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO