Rubashkin Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison
Kosher meatpacking executive Sholom Rubashkin was sentenced to 27 years in a federal prison for his conviction on federal financial fraud charges.
U.S. District Judge Linda Reade filed the sentencing memorandum Monday and will present the sentence in federal court Tuesday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Rubashkin was convicted last November on 86 counts of fraud in connection with the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa.
The prison term will be followed by five years of parole, according to Reade’s ruling. Rubashkin also will be required to make restitution of nearly $27 million to several financial institutions.
Prosecutors had requested a 25-year sentence, according to the Des Moines Register.
Rubashkin lawyer Guy Cook, noting the prosecutors’ request, called the sentence “unfair and excessive.”
“It’s essentially a life sentence for a 51-year-old man, and it’s not in the public interest,” he told the newspaper.
Rubashkin was acquitted earlier this month in an Iowa state court on 67 counts of child labor violations relating to 26 teenagers from South America who worked at the plant.
The Agriprocessors plant was the site of a federal immigration raid in May 2008 in which 389 illegal immigrants, including 31 children, were arrested.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!