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The day-to-day manager at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville at the time of a massive May 2008 immigration raid won’t be heading back to court to face 72 counts of immigration-related charges after all. An order released this afternoon by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade dismisses all such charges and forfeiture allegations without prejudice.
Sholom Rubashkin, who was recently found guilty of 86 charges related to money laundering and fraud in connection with the raid, was set to go back on trial Dec. 2 in Sioux Falls, S.D. on the immigration offenses.
The order for dismissal by Reade follows a request by federal prosecutors filed early Thursday morning.
According to the government’s calculation of the sentencing guidelines, due in large part to the amount of loss associated with defendant’s fraud and false statement convictions, any convictions with regard to Counts 1 through 72 would be entirely eclipsed by defendant’s recommended guideline sentence on the counts for which he has already been convicted. This is not to minimize the importance of those counts, but at least for the purposes of the advisory sentencing guideline range, any convictions on Counts 1 through 72 would have no impact upon defendant’s sentence. However, any evidence of immigration violations would be relevant conduct that the Court could consider at sentencing even without a second trial.
In the government’s estimation, now that defendant has been convicted on the most serious offenses charged in the pending indictment (in terms of potential penalties), and given that a jury has determined defendant committed crimes by making false statements about the harboring of undocumented aliens at Agriprocessors, Inc., and his knowledge of undocumented workers at Agriprocessors, Inc., dismissal without prejudice of Counts 1 through 72 and the forfeiture allegation is the most appropriate and efficient manner in which to proceed in this case. Dismissal will avoid an extended and expensive trial, conserve limited judicial and prosecutorial resources, and lessen the inconvenience to witnesses. The public interest has been substantially served because of the convictions and jury findings noted above. The government asks that such dismissal be without prejudice so criminal charges and the forfeiture allegation could be reinitiated based upon a change in circumstances or a reevaluation of present
circumstances.
According to documents filed with the court, Rubashkin’s legal team had no objection to dismissal of the charges.
Prosecutors also noted in their motion to dismiss that the current financial condition of Agriprocessors, Inc. as a company “and the fact that it is an empty shell” were justifiable reasons for not pursuing possible forfeiture charges.
Rubashkin, 50, and other senior members of the Agriprocessors management and executive team still face a state trail, currently scheduled to begin next spring, on alleged violation of child labor laws.
Currently, Rubashkin is being held by federal authorities, pending a decision in a bail hearing held Wednesday.
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