Rabbi Pinto and the Sheens

Josh Nathan-Kazis December 17, 2012

What do Charlie Sheen’s children, an Israeli gangster, and Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto have in common? They were all at one Los Angeles wedding.

Pinto, who conducted the ceremony, is the kabbalist who was under house arrest in Israel this fall after allegedly bribing a police officer.

The bride was C.C. Fontana, reportedly a former Ford model. Sheen’s kids were apparently members of the wedding party.

And the groom? That would be the Israeli gangster, Hai Waknine, who pled guilty to extortion in U.S. federal court in 2006. The prosecutor in the case called him “a shakedown collections guy.”

The report that puts all three in the same place comes from Posta.co.il, an Israeli news site. According to the site, Pinto wasn’t actually at the wedding, but rather officiated remotely. The language is unclear, and it’s uncertain how that would work. The arrangement could have something to do with Pinto’s legal situation.

The story does not indicate whether Sheen himself showed, or perhaps stayed home sipping tiger blood.

Josh Nathan-Kazis is a staff writer for the Forward. He covers charities and politics, and writes investigations and longform.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward. Discover more perspectives in Opinion. To contact Opinion authors, email [email protected].

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