Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes, whose staunch defense of his Kol Tzedek program included creating a task force to prosecute any individual who attempted to interfere with witnesses in sexual abuse cases, announced the indictment of four Williamsburg men this afternoon, all of whom are charged with attempting to impede the prosecution in the case against 53 year old Nechemya Weberman.
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Abraham Rubin, 48 and Joseph, Jacob and Hertzka Berger, were all arraigned today in Brooklyn Supreme Court by Justice John Walsh, after being arrested in the early morning hours in their homes, as previously reported on VIN News.
Rubin, who faces up to seven years in prison if convicted, was charged with four counts of Bribing a Witness, two counts of Fourth Degree Tampering with a Witness and one count of Coercion in the Second Degree. Rubin is alleged to have attempted to silence the victim and a friend, who was also a witness in the case, by bribing them with half a million dollars to drop the case, telling them that justice would be better served if the case did not come to trial. He is also alleged to have suggested that the pair relocate to Israel in order to avoid testifying and offered to provide them with an attorney who would guide them in behavior that would make the case more difficult for the prosecution.
A second indictment charges the three Berger brothers with Coercion in the Second Degree, with Joseph Berger also charged with Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree and Jacob Berger charged with Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree. Both Joseph and Hertzka Berger potentially face one year prison terms, while Jacob Berger faces up to four years in prison.
The Bergers are charged with attempting to pressure both the victim and the witness not to testify in the upcoming case and threatened to remove the kashrus certification from the witness’ restaurant in Williamsburg. After the pair refused to back down, Jacob Berger allegedly went to the restaurant and removed the certification from the wall.
Assistant District Attorney Josh Hanshaft said the four men had no regard for the criminal justice system and wanted to handle the case their way. They “tried to make the witnesses disappear so the case would be dropped,” he said.
All four men pleaded not guilty to all charges and according to reports on the Associated Press, the courtroom was packed with the defendants’ friends and family. The four were ordered to stay away from the accuser and her boyfriend.
Bail was set for Rubin at $75,000 and for each of the Berger brothers at $5,000 each and all are expected to make bail. All four men were required to surrender their passports to the authorities.
“They all deny the allegations. They are obviously going to be fighting these cases vehemently,” defense attorney Bruce Wenger said.
Weberman’s attorney, George Farkas, has said his client is innocent of the charges, and that Weberman has been maligned by the supporters of the girl, now 17.
Farkas said Thursday his client had no knowledge or involvement in the suspected bribery.
“We denounce any effort to undermine the legitimate court process in this or any case. Mr. Weberman has stated from the beginning that no one should be subjected to any form of harassment,” Farkas said in a statement.
Hynes has been the subject of intense media scrutiny in the past few weeks because of his policy of not releasing the names of potential abusers and today’s arrests are the first made by the task force created just weeks ago in order to protect witnesses from intimidation.
“Hopefully, these indictments serve as an example that we will not tolerate individuals who try to interfere with the pursuit of justice,” said Hynes.
may heshem help the truth should come forward and all dropouts should be rightly placed in a specified position,
If guilty they need to be punished to the max. People like this only embolden the monsters and need to be stopped.
this is great news. i know some misguided people are going to feel bad for these gangsters, but brookyn also needs law and order. contrary to what satmar and skver chassidim believe, new york is not “jew town”. (and its a good thing its not, if it was it would probably be a worse place to live than saudi arabia.)
Even Hynes can do the right thing when the harsh glare of publicity is on him
interesting to see what the evidence is, it it just the boyfriend words against theirs or was he wearing a wire or maybe the store has a camera
Please, Hynes is playing catch up, a little to late, his behavior when the media spotlight isn’t shining on him has been horrible.
As for these 4 defendants I can only guess what the outcome is going to be but they should have focused their urge to help the community for other area’s.
This case is plain stupidity 1) making a public fundraiser while knowing that the victims boy friend has lots of media contacts. 2) mixing in the Kashrus of the guy’s store into this story was not smart.
how many children could have been saved if hynes implemented these changes 20 years ago?
Yes. The store was wired. The entire bribery and obstruction of justice attempt was caught on video and voice recordings. In addition, the Berger brothers appear to be only accessories and played an extremely small role. That is why bail for each of the Berger brothers was set at only $5,000 each. The three brothers have agreed to “tell the truth” and are cooperating. They will be testifying against Abraham Rubin and the three Berger brothers will be conditionally released from the case. Rubin, on the other hand, has the oppotunity to seek mercy by testifying against Nechememya Weberman. Otherwise, Rubin may be facing a long sentence. The DA’s office is now supremely confident that the entire case is now blown and that Weberman as well as Rubin will be seeking to “cop a plea.”
I guess Hynes is thinking about retirement because it’s obvious he’s not going to be running again after this. And seeing the press conference, is there a bigger chillul Hashem??
This Chilul Hashem just keeps on growing. When will people learn to obey the law? When will idiots like these 4 learn we have laws that protect us & we are not living in communist Russia any more where we do things shtil heit? The recent TV coverage of the “Asifa” in support of Weberman was mortifying, whether or not he’s innocent.
One more thing…if these perverts real, (a la Kolko & Mondrowitz) or the merely accused controlled their urges through chemical castration or therapies, these crazy stories would never happen.
Speaking of Asifas…instead of banning cell phones & Internet, try banning these sick pervs from our Yeshivas & contact with the rest of society.
The bail for DWI is higher than $5,000
Offering $500,000 bribe to make the witness disappear and the DA thinks that bail of 1% of that money will not make the defendant disappear?
Whom does the DA think he is kidding?
who said these people are smart? read sherlock holmes – the valley of fear, and you will understand how they operate. these are uneducated man who think that because they learned a bit torah they are superior and no one can harm them. case in point – the boys in japan. by the way the reason most plain chasidim dont speak up to them is because if they do, they will uphold from them school subsidies, going to the mikveh, get an aliyah and so forth (everyone is welcome to add their own example).
now they will make a pidyon shvuyim fund to help these guys.
its amazing the DA holds a press conference no evidence, no proof, no jury, no trial
however by the comments from some on VIN they are already guilty
looks like the photo from the suspects helped make that decision
amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Notice all this progress is the result of external pressures, e.g. media, blogs, and brave victims standing up. Not from the so called leadership of rabbonim and askonim. Makes me wonder what kind of society would we create if we could secede from all countries and establish a country of our own to fashion any way we like. It would probably be a theocracy, not unlike Iran.
Lets face it – these guys ain’t doin any time. The minute they start hearing in Rikers “vee vee,voos voos, nayin, etc they will have no choice to ship these guys out to avoid pandemonium. I mean – pheeww, I am Jewish and I would not want to be locked up with these guys.
Some facts for those who don’t know, back a few years when this “boy friend” was out on the street and NO ONE looked on him, Rubin was the only one to take him in.
Rubin was his friend and he only tried to mediate between the two parties, he didnt threaten him at all. But he kindly listened and then decide to turn on him…
Rubin had no wild or bad intentions, it might be he wasnt even aware the ‘offering’ is against the law …
This is an unprecedented event.
Witness tampering is a federal offense.
No way that those charged can evade full conviction. The DA, Hynes, would never have brought charges if he thought he couldn’t win. The tapes are pretty horrible for the defendants. No way they can deny them. Caught in the act.
The FEDS will have no mercy. Especially in a national election year they must show favoritism. The Dept. of Justice has accepted the case only because they have a sure win.
Expect the full wrath of Washington to hit Satmar. They vote Republican and this fact has not been lost on the Dept of Justice. No votes will be lost so no problem to convict and send to prison.
In addition, Satmar is refusing to share its internal documents. This only makes it worse for them. When the documents are finally subpoened if they are at all tampered with, Satmar will go down in flames.
Don’t play with fire. You will get burned!
I don’t understand. What do you mean there throwing kids out of Yeshive? don’t they get government funds???? does the government allow this??
I shmoozed with a few Willi guys today in Downtown Bkln (I’d probably be afraid to do it on Lee Ave). I must say “Their messed up way of thinking is scary” in a way I feel bad for them (I think its in the food), only harsh punishment might wake them up to the real world. When I asked them a question like “How would you act if it was your child??” They turn pale as if they are about to pass out!! One can tell that they r simply lacking basic truth intelligence & education. All they know is Mikva-Nyess Brainwash!!! Its sad but true!!!
Follow the money. Where does the $500,000 come from? It may very well be that these guys are puppets of higher ups who are succesfuly washing their hands from this crime & are out eating kishka tonight & planning a quadruple fundraiser for next week. I doubt that ‘his Hyness’ will dig any deeper than the surface.
Also realize that Hynes as no problem releasing photos of the accused men as long as they’re not accused with molestation. Only the identity of accused molesters need to be protected. Mr. Hynes I think it’s time to pack your bags.
So many self hating jews here its unbelieveable….
One thing has nothing to do with the other if webberman is guilty that’s one thing, our community is still allowed to help him… If he offered 500 thousnad dollars to get this case under the rug and everyone should stop talking about it, its a BIG thing and I support this decision, this chillol hashem here is disgusting…. Hashem will show who is right and who is wrong here… This mr deutch will be a BIG fool here ( my opinion ) and screwed up a good going business, what a businessman!!!
I am an orthodox Jew from flatbush. What I see here is a rebel guy and girl trying to destroy religious Jews with trumped up rape charges. Where is the evidence. Anyone can turnindividuals around and accuse someone for rape. A jury of racist individuals can throw the book at an innocent victim or free the guilty like 0J and Yankel Rosenbaums killer Lemerik Nelson now living in New Jersey laughing away. We frum jews need to unite and outvote all our liberal chareidi haters be they Jews or not like we just elected Bob Turner and David Storobin.
Would you trust the kashrus of a store that is supervised by someone who removes the kashrus certificate for reasons of intimidation? This has to give you pause.
Without knowing facts here, though I have personal reasons to believe Weberman is guilty, I reserve all opinions. Politics makes for strange behavior, and those issues motivated by politics are often devoid of truth. It is not a gurantee that court proceedings with their stringent requirements for evidence will bring about truth and justice. But there is another force (or farce) at play here. The past behavior of the DA suggests he was under the influence of the “establishment”. Today, the pendulum has swung the other direction. He is now dancing to the tune of the bloodthirsty fanatics who call themselves advocates. Not one of them has a mission of protecting children. They just want to destroy anything that smells of a Rav, Gadol, etc. If someone were to interrupt a meeting of the Moetzes with an automatic weapon and ch”v gun down all present, these “advocates” would dance in the streets, much as we watch Palestinians distribute candies and celebrate every Israeli or American tragedy. The DA is following their beat now. Wait till it swings back.
They were all let out within hours it was just a headline grabber to satisfy some mosrim “Shein Lohem Chielik Luolab Habuh” .There will be no jail time it was just to make a point.Now for those who will go crazy of what I said i’m talking about these 4 yidden.
This feels like a modern day which hunt. I hope the plite of these erlicheh yidden only go to remind of the suffering we go thru everyday in chutz la’eretz
“If he offered 500 thousnad dollars to get this case under the rug and everyone should stop talking about it, its a BIG thing and I support this decision”
Ok, so you support breaking the law? Yes, we live in the USA. They have laws and you, and every other satmar chasid (excuse me, chusid), who have no problem taking any and all government handouts, have to abide by them. Why? Because you are a citizen of this country. Trust me, when someone rapes YOUR daughter, you will sing a different tune, and you will find that all your so called friends will call your daughter a whore and run to defend the rapist. Again, why? because he has a burd and payes, therefore, he MUST be innocent. The rug has no more room underneath it for all the shmutz that has been swept under there for so many years.
Want to know the true meaning of a chilul hashem? read the comments in the NY Post on this story. (some will just label them “Anti-Semites) Thank You Willy, now i understand the meaning of “Yir Hanidachas”.
Reading the above comments, I am so grateful that I’m not raising my kids in that shtetle! What ignorant comments! I feel so bad for their kids! If ch”v one of their kids will get abused I can’t even begin to think how they will handle it….they’ll shove it under the rug and blame the child for seducing the molester….my heart aches for the kids living in that kind of environment. To call people and advocates who worry about the safety of THEIR kids “reshaim” is non comprehensible! It sounds like the people living there are living in SEDOM!
Everyone is quick to believe the victim, not because they are “off the derch” or anti-semites.
Let me enlighten you: It’s because anyone who grew up in a community like that who now has an education and/or has turned away from it will undoubtedly know the corruption that goes on there. This is a start that will hopefully expose all these sickos for what they are. Whether it’s sexual abuse, beating kids, fraud, or anything else that goes on, let’s hope this will lead to an end of all that. It’s about time people should realize that just because someone has a beard and pyes does not mean they are perfect angels.
One of the saddest parts is little kids and teenagers growing up around this who know nothing else, and have no idea that a world outside their community exists. Why would I tell my father that my rebbe beat me for not having my finger on the right place in chumash when I know my father will beat me for the same reason?
I think that (thankfully) slowly but surely all the corruption will be exposed and these “communities” will be replaced with honest people who understand that they can live by their rules and still abide by laws and human morality. We all want safety.
Berger had all the right to take down the Hechsher since Deutch had put up a poster stating that he sold the store to a different owner. Bh now the store is closed for the 2nd day. (Source my eyes)
From the rabbinical point of view, the carnal act is defined by penetration. There is simply no reason in the Jewish Law to go after a molester if he haven’t actually penetrated the victim. It’s all very cut and dry, and all the bleeding-heart talk about the dire consequences of abuse, ruined lives, psychology, etc. does not enter the picture.