Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
A 43-year-old man who worked as a poultry line supervisor at Agriprocessors during the massive May 2008 immigration raid was sentenced Tuesday on immigration-related charges.
Martin De La Rosa-Loera, of Postville, received the prison term after pleading guilty Aug. 27 to one count of aiding and abetting the harboring of undocumented aliens.
According to court information, De La Rosa-Loera entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 1997, and began working at Agriprocessors prior to becoming a lawful resident in 2002. He had since become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
De La Rosa-Loera supervised roughly 70 poultry employees at Agriprocessors, according to court records. In early May 2007, he told his workers that they would need to change their social security numbers and names to continue working in the plant. The changes also came with the employees reverting back to “starting wages” of $6.25 per hour. After his announcement, more than 100 poultry workers staged a walk-out in protest.
Court documents also indicate that De La Rosa-Loera received a list of several employees in late April 2008. Those listed were to be fired from Agriprocesors. Despite supervisors knowing the employees had problems with their social security numbers, De La Rosa-Loera’s supervisor told him six of the most valuable workers could continue employment if they produced new identification documents.
De La Rosa-Loera, according to prosecutors, directed another member of the poultry department under his supervision to obtain new identification documents, and then instructed the employee to tell five additional workers to do the same. Although the human resources director later determined the employees’ new documents “were not right,” the six employees were allowed to continue working at Agriprocessors under their old documents.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade sentenced De La Rosa-Loera to 23 months imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and he must also serve a two-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Reade increased his sentence due to his supervisory role in the offense and the harboring of 100 or more illegal aliens.
De La Rosa-Loera is being held in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Office until he can be transported to a federal prison. The investigation into illegal activities at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville began in October 2007. The raid, in which 389 workers were detained, was staged on May 12. Several members of management, including day-to-day chief executive Sholom M. Rubashkin, face a myraid of criminal charges ranging from bank fraud to immigration-related offenses. The investigation continues.
The Agriprocessors plant, a kosher meatpacking facility, continues limited operations under the supervision of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee. A sale has been set for March 23, although no major buyer has yet to publicly step forward.
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