Rabbis convicted of Sopranos-style New Jersey divorce kidnap plot

They were arrested in October 2013 after an undercover FBI operation in which an agent posed as an Orthodox woman.

The sting ended in a warehouse with two of the rabbis and six other men wearing ski masks, and carrying surgical blades and a 30-foot nylon rope.

Rabbi Stimler's lawyer, Nathan Lewin, said the verdict was "shocking" and said his client had been at the warehouse to witness the ceremonial signing of the get.

Aidan O'Connor, lawyer for 60-year-old Rabbi Goldstein, said: "I don't think this was a traditional kidnapping."

Robert Stahl, defending Rabbi Epstein, said his client "still firmly believes that he was protecting women's rights".

Rabbi Epstein's son, David Epstein, was cleared of kidnap on Tuesday.

He called his acquittal "bittersweet" following his father's conviction.

The rabbis, who plan to appeal, are due to be sentenced on July 15. They face life in prison.

In a Sopranos episode broadcast in 1999, mafia boss Tony Soprano becomes engaged in a row with Hasidic Jews over a man's refusal to give his wife a get.