Federal prosecutors today filed a 142-count criminal indictment against former managers at Agriprocessors Inc., the struggling Postville slaughterhouse, and increased the number of immigration charges against former plant executive Sholom Rubashkin.
Rubashkin and his former plant now face 71 counts of harboring undocumented aliens for profit, according to the indictment. Prosecutors also dropped federal identity-theft allegations in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that undermined those charges.
The indictment names Rubashkin, the plant itself, and three former managers as defendants in an alleged scheme to harbor illegal immigrants, defraud creditors, falsify documents and defy a 2002 order from the U.S. secretary of agriculture.
Rubashkin’s lawyer, Guy Cook, said his client will plead not guilty to all charges.
Bob Teig, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said each new immigration charge was filed in connection to an individual immigrant who was harbored at the plant for financial gain.
The amended indictment comes little more than a year after federal agents raided the kosher meat plant and arrested 389 suspected illegal immigrants. Most operations have since ceased at Agriprocessors, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to shield itself from creditors.
The new indictment, the sixth filed since October 2008, replaces a 79-count indictment issued in March. Rubashkin’s trial is scheduled for Sept. 9 in U.S. District Court.
(Source: The Des Moines Register)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
5 Responses
When will they stop with this false accusations and lies. they are targeting good people.
Hopefully, this will all work out and the finger pointing will cease.
ALL the other slaughterhouses are doing the same thing. You can’tcompete,if you donot hire Mexican help.
There are an estimated 20 million illegal immigrants in the country. Most have jobs,and are not being targeted by the Government.
Rubashkin has been singled-out,because of pressure from acoaltion of PETA, Conservative and Reform Judaism,and the union.
Rubashking did not understand that this is a war, and he is being attacked by vicious enemies.He hired Nathan Lewin, a “nice-guy”lawyer to represent him.This was a strategic disaster.
He needed a vicious “attack-dog” lawyer to carry the battle to the enemy.
The cowards at the O-U were no help. They abandoned Rubashkin to his enemies.
Let’s hope they come to their their senses, now, in the 9th inning!
We are obligated to give them the benefit of the doubt. Despite what we think may be the facts – remember that if we don’t know them first hand, it one is mekabel loshon hara to believe what one hears in the news.
Daven for Rubashkin, his employees, those hard working people who are now without jobs (legal or not) and for the Klal.
To # 5 –
Why is it that with the millions of illegal aliens, the Federal Government was able to only find one place for them to work. Where are all the others? Do you mean to tell me that they are all working as nannies? If a law is only enforced in one case and ignored in all others, then what does it say about the law enforcers?