Agriprocessors Managers Hit With New 142-Count Indictment

By JTA May 18, 2009

Federal prosecutors filed a new 142-count criminal indictment against former managers of Agriprocessors.

The new filing, made Friday in U.S. District Court for Northern Iowa, replaces a 79-count indictment issued in March. Former plant manager Sholom Rubashkin and fellow managers now face 71 counts of harboring illegal immigrants, in addition to other charges.

Prosecutors dropped identity theft charges in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that would have made conviction on those charges difficult to achieve.

Agriprocessors was the nation’s largest producer of kosher meat before a massive federal immigration raid last year resulted in the arrest of hundreds of its employees and set off a cascade of legal problems for the company, which ultimately filed for bankruptcy protection.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $325,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO