Wolmark and Epstein get very tough bail conditions, Wolmark 5 Million Bail, Epstein 1 Million Bail

Rabbi Wolmark

Six of the ten people arrested last week in the FBI sting that broke up an organized ring pressuring Orthodox Jewish husbands into granting religious divorces to their wives were in court on Wednesday, where a federal judge set strict bail conditions that runs into millions of dollars for some defendants.

Asbury Park Press (http://goo.gl/7qp2mS) reports that U.S. District Court Judge Douglas E. Arpert set very strict guidelines, including home confinement on all six men, including Rabbi Mendel Epstein and Rabbi Martin “Mordachai” Wolmark.

For Epstein, Judge Arpert said he must wear an electronic ankle bracelet while remaining under house arrest at his Lakewood, NJ home.

Since their arrest last week, all ten men have been held at the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center.

In court on Wednesday, Ariel Potash, Binyamin Stimler, David Helman and Sholom Shuchat appeared along with Epstein and Wolmark.

Fellow defendants Jay Goldstein, Moshe Goldstein, Simcha Bulmash and Avrohom Goldstein remained at the detention center awaiting a bail hearing.

Epstein’s attorney, Susan Necheles of Manhattan, said Epstein, as well as the others, may have a difficult time meeting all the bail conditions, which includes surrendering their passports, their wives’ passports, and posting property as collateral.

Sources said the six were ushered into court wearing Army green jumpsuits and shackled together, as more than 50 supporters and family members sat watching.

All of the men wore black yarmulkes.

According to sources, Epstein’s four daughters and wife were planning to put up five properties worth over $4M as collateral to secure his release.

“This man is all about his family,” Necheles told the judge, while mentioning Epstein’s eight children, over 50 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. “If he were to flee, all of his children and grandchildren would be out on the street.”

Handling the case for the feds, Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Joseph Gribko argued that all of the men should be held without bail, regardless of their religious backgrounds.

“Had we been talking about the mob or the Bloods or the Crips we wouldn’t even be discussing a bond in this case,” Gribko told Judge Arpert. “There’s no difference between them and these other gangs that engage in violent crime.”

All ten of the men face up to life in prison if convicted

UPDATED! 

A federal judge today set a $5 million bail for Rabbi Wolmark, and $1 million for Epstein the two prominent rabbis accused of torturing Orthodox Jewish men into giving their wives a religious divorce.

Sources say Rabbi Martin Wolmark, of Monsey, and Rabbi Mendel Epstein, of Brooklyn, could be released from a federal detention center in Philadelphia as early as Thursday morning if they meet all the conditions of their bail..