Rubashkin sentencing begins today in Cedar Rapids

LOOK AT THE FACTS:

1. Prosecutors singled out Agriprocessors – the largest kosher meat production company in the United States – and authorized a raid by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in May 2008 that was unnecessary, unwise, and singularly destructive.

2. Prosecutors chose against treating Agriprocessors like other meatpacking companies – such as Swift & Company or Tyson’s – who employed even more illegal immigrants than Agriprocessors but whom the government allowed to negotiate resolutions to the immigration issues without conducting a raid.

3. Prosecutors summarily rejected Agriprocessor’s attorney’s oral and written requests to resolve the matter through cooperative efforts and instead authorized a raid by 600 federal agents, supported by Blackhawk military helicopters that did enormous physical damage to the Agriprocessors plant and ultimately drove the business into bankruptcy.

4. The raid demolished the economic infrastructure of the Town of Postville, wiped out livelihoods of both legal and illegal workers, and forced Postville’s legitimate businesses to shut down.

5. Sholom Rubashkin was arrested suddenly – in an effort to garner maximum national publicity – even though his lawyers were in constant communication with federal prosecutors and knew he would surrender if notified of formal charges.

6. Prosecutors unjustifiably demanded extraordinarily severe bail conditions and ultimately requested that he be denied bail altogether. No other employer in the country whose premises were raided by ICE in the 2006-2008 period was treated with comparable severity or was imprisoned prior to trial or prior to sentencing.

7. Rubashkin was imprisoned for 76 days before his trial on the basis of an outrageous and false argument that asserted that any Jew in the United States could flee to Israel and, under its “Law of Return,” avoid justice in the United States. And he has been kept in prison after the jury verdict in his case even though he was meticulous in observing the conditions of his eventual release before trial.

8. Prosecutors even opposed a modest request that Rubashkin be permitted to go home under 24-hour guard to observe the Passover Seders with his family.

9. Prosecutors were not content to charge Rubashkin with the offense of violating the immigration laws and bank fraud. In order to aggravate the appearance of his offense for publicity purposes, they returned seven successive indictments, constantly increasing the number of counts until the total was 163. No other employer who was the subject of an ICE immigration raid between 2006-2008 had seven superseding indictments returned against him with ever-increasing numbers of criminal counts.

10. Prosecutors scraped the bottom of the barrel artificially to increase the number of counts against Rubashkin. They found and alleged violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 based on the fact that Agriprocessors was, on occasion, a few days late in paying cattle dealers. No one has ever been charged with a criminal offense under this law or any other law for making late payments.

11. Prosecutors presented highly prejudicial evidence to the jury at Rubashkin’s bank-fraud trial suggesting he was involved in harboring illegal immigrants, and they successfully objected to the admission of evidence he presented refuting his guilt of such charges. After the jury verdict, they dismissed 72 counts of immigration-law charges.

12. Prosecutors have advised the District Court that Rubashkin’s anticipated sentence is more than 20 years, even though the jury found that he did not profit personally from the alleged bank fraud. Other employers raided by ICE from 2006-2008 were either not criminally prosecuted at all, were given probation or received a prison term of one year and a day. The most serious offender received a 10-year sentence.

13. If prosecutors request this prison term for a non-violent first-time financial offense, it will be longer than the average sentence meted out in the United States for violent offenses, including homicide, robbery, sexual abuse, drug trafficking, and offenses involving national security and defense.

Dear RegularJoe,
You are wrong. Shalom is not being treated fairly. Even Janet Reno agrees with this. If all CEOs who committed crimes would be treated like this then it would be fair. But those CEOs get a slap on the wrist and pay a fine. They don't get a life sentence. I don't say he is innocent. But I do say he is getting unfairly prosecuted.

how many people do you know that was found guilty of lying on a form to get a line of credit that had to rot the rest of their lives in jail!!! nobody is saying he is not guilty but the punishment must fit the crime! how many people do you know that were denied bail during a trial? if its not because he is jewish then what is it??

Tell us why the Jew gets a request for life, and others in similar cases (or worse) get slaps on the wrist?
Swift, Turkcan, Cheng, Kahlon, Bianco….. what about sending them to prison for life? Oh right, they don't wear funny hats and beards, so- 'get out of jail free'. But the Jew, hang him…..now tell us about Bob Teig and all his Jewish 'best friends' LOL.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Six former U.S. attorneys general and 17 other Justice Department veterans have signed a letter to the judge in the Sholom Rubashkin case, criticizing the prosecutors' recommendation that Rubashkin receive life in prison for his bank fraud conviction. They note the “potential absurdity” in prosecutors using the federal sentencing guidelines to calculate a recommendation of life in prison for Rubashkin, noting the guidelines can produce sentencing ranges that are greater than necessary and “lack any common sentencing wisdom.”

“We cannot fathom how truly sound and sensible sentencing rules could call for a life sentence – or anything close to it – for Mr. Rubashkin, a 51-year-old, first-time, non-violent offender whose case involves many mitigating factors and whose personal history and extraordinary family circumstances suggest that a sentence of a modest number of years could and would be more than sufficient to serve any and all applicable sentencing purposes,” the letter said.

It is an unprecedented accumulation of support from across the political spectrum, including a wide range of views on legal philosophy and federal sentencing guidelines. The former Justice Department officials include an array of both Democratic and Republican appointees, including those who served in every administration from Lyndon B. Johnson through George W. Bush.

The six former attorneys general to sign the letter are: Nicholas Katzenbach (Johnson administration, 1965-1966), Ramsey Clark (Johnson administration, 1967-1969); Edwin Meese III (Reagan administration, 1985-1988); Richard Thornburgh (Reagan and Bush administrations, 1988-1991); William Barr (Bush administration, 1991-1993) and Janet Reno (Clinton administration, 1993-2001).

Also signing the letter are former deputy attorneys general Jamie Gorelick (Clinton administration, 1994-1997) and Larry D. Thompson (George W. Bush administration, 2001-2003) and former solicitor general Seth Waxman (Clinton administration, 1997-2001). The letter and full list of signatories are attached.

In addition, Kenneth Starr, the former judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit (1983-1989) and solicitor general (George H.W. Bush administration, 1989-1993) has announced his intention to sign the letter.

“To our knowledge, there is no empirical or other social science research to support the notion that life sentences or even long prison terms are necessary for, or even effective at, deterring white-collar offenses,” the letter continues.

The letter goes on to say that a sentence of life or decades in prison would be “inconsistent with the traditional purposes of punishment” and “would produce a gross disparity in treatment.” Such a severe sentence, the attorneys argue, “undermines the congressional goal of fairness and proportionality in federal sentencing.”

The letter has been sent to Hon. Linda Reade, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, who will announce Rubashkin's sentence on April 29, 2010.

The Justice Department veterans have joined a growing chorus of political, legal and community leaders who have expressed dismay at the sentencing recommendation and the potential for Rubashkin to receive life in prison for his bank fraud conviction. In addition to the letter, other expressions of support have come from former federal Judge Paul Cassell, attorney Alan Dershowitz, former Rep. Bob Barr and numerous American Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League. And more than 30,000 people have signed an online petition arguing Rubashkin “has been singled out for cruel and unusual punishment and punished much more severely than anyone else.”

Rubashkin was convicted for his role as an executive with the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. The sentencing recommendation submitted by prosecutors to the court earlier this month is inconsistent with the sentencing of other corporate executives convicted in comparable cases. The letter compares the Rubashkin case to that of Mark Turkcan, the president of First Bank Mortgage of St. Louis, who misapplied $35 million in loans, resulting in a loss of approximately $25 million. Turkcan was recently sentenced by a federal judge in Missouri to one year and one day in prison.

Prosecutors and the U.S. Probation Office have calculated the total offense committed by Rubashkin at level 45 under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, but the federal Sentencing Table caps at level 43. An offense level of 43 is punished with a life sentence under the sentencing guidelines.

Rubashkin's attorneys have asked the court to impose a sentence no greater than 72 months, noting his positive history and character, his extraordinary family circumstances, and the arbitrary nature of the now-advisory guidelines used by prosecutors. They emphasize that Rubashkin's conduct was not done for personal gain, that he did not intend any loss to the bank, and that a 72-month sentence would allow the Bureau of Prisons to place Rubashkin in a facility with experience in effectively and humanely incarcerating observant Jewish inmates.

Rubashkin was originally indicted for employing illegal immigrants, an offense that has been punished with probation or a short prison term. After seven superseding indictments and the court's order separating the trials on immigration charges from the bank fraud charges, prosecutors chose to proceed to trial on the bank fraud charges so as to increase Rubashkin's punishment. Interest was paid on all of the money drawn by the allegedly fraudulent loan, and the bank acknowledged that it received approximately $21 million in profit from the interest payments.

The bank loan was not paid in full because the government's immigration raid on Agriprocessors caused the company to declare bankruptcy. The bank “called” the loan when Agriprocessors could not continue to make its payments. The May 2008 raid included military helicopters and more than 600 federal agents, and was widely criticized for the extreme tactics utilized by prosecutors and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The raid destroyed the company and had disastrous lasting effects on the community of Postville and the kosher meat industry.

Advocates for Rubashkin are urged to support the online petition at the “Justice for Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin” Web page at http://justiceforsholom.org. The Web site also provides other tools for community members to contact the U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case and the Department of Justice.