Sholom M. Rubashkin, son of Agriprocessors founder A. Aaron Rubashkin, was found guilty in November 2009 on 86 charges of financial fraud and money laundering. His counsel had requested that he be released on bail pending formal sentencing on those charges; however, a panel of three judges from the St. Louis-based Appellate Court denied the motion late last week. An exact sentencing date for Rubashkin has not yet been set, but is anticipated to take place this spring.

Counsel for Rubashkin can continue to appeal the decision.

On Monday, former plant operations manager Brent Beebe admitted in a plea arrangement with federal prosecutors that he brokered deals between Rubashkin and undocumented workers, effectively providing the workers with falsified documents for a cost. The transaction of more than $4,000, according to court records, took place one week before a massive May 2008 immigration raid at the Postville facility.

Beebe remains free on bond, pending sentencing.

Since the raid several members of management at the plant have been probed by federal authorities, and many have been convicted of wrongdoing. The plant itself was sold through bankruptcy and now operates under new leadership as AgriStar. Some former members of plant management, including Rubashkin’s brother, Heshy Rubashkin, continue to provide services to the new plant owners, although the exact extent of their involvement remains unclear.

Due to the trial process, several undocumented workers were detained in Postville as possible key witnesses. Wearing ankle GPS tracking devices, some hoped only for deportation while others began their own legal battles to establish residency in the U.S. Just days following Christmas, most of those detainees were brought to Cedar Rapids where their ankle tracking devices were removed by court officials.

The Rubashkin family and friends, who have rallied around Sholom throughout the process, have hired a New York-based communications firm to represent the interests of an established defense fund. The company has reached out to members of the press and has began a presence on social networking sites.

Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, 36, was sentenced to and is serving 36 months in federal prison. Two years of that sentence was a mandatory ruling for aggravated identity theft, according to court documents, and was a term of the plea deal he signed that allowed him to avoid deportation and for his wife and children to return to the U.S.  following his prison term. He entered into the plea agreement in late August 2008.

Roughly nine months later, on May 4, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that many of the convictions and sentences given to immigrant detainees from the Postville raid were in error. According to the ruling, federal prosecutors inappropriately used aggravated identity theft laws to prosecute undocumented workers because the prosecution did not prove that the workers knowingly used identities that belonged to other individuals.

“As a matter of ordinary English grammar, it seems natural to read the statute’s word ‘knowingly’ as applying to all subsequently listed elements of the crime,” wrote Justice Stephen G. Breyer in the decision.

Other Agriprocessors supervisors, despite being originally charged with aggravated identity theft, had charges removed by the prosecution following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. In light of this, attorneys for Guerrero-Espinoza is requesting the court vacate or correct his sentence to reflect what has happened in the other cases and the decision by the Justices. If the request is granted, he could be freed after serving 19 months.

Court documents filed in August 2008 indicated that Guerrero-Espinoza “conspired with others, and aided and abetted his employer, in hiring more than 10 individuals” whom he knew to be undocumented and unable to legally work in the U.S. He was convicted, in part, due to a conversation he had with employees under his supervision on May 7, 2008. At that time Guerrero-Espinoza allegedly told workers he knew to be illegal immigrants that they were going to be terminated and then immediately rehired by Agriprocessors. While this testimony goes directly to the aiding and abetting illegal aliens charge, it does not speak directly to whether Guerrero-Espinoza was aware that the documents used to re-hire the workers stemmed from stolen identities.

Upon the federal conviction of Sholom Rubashkin, former Agriprocessors day-to-day manager, on numerous fraud-related charges, prosecutors have agreed not to seek a second trial on the immigration-related offenses that he faced. Without that trial, it is unlikely that much of the immigration-related evidence gathered at the Agriprocessors site following the 2008 raid, or much of the key witness testimony, will ever be publicly revealed.

Defense attorneys for Sholom Rubashkin continue to assert that their client, despite being recently convicted on 86 fraud-related charges, is not a flight risk and should be granted bail pending sentencing.

Late last week U.S. District Chief Judge Linda R. Reade ruled that Rubashkin, who served as the on-site manager at a Postville kosher meatpacking plant that was raided by federal authorities in May 2008, should be held without bail, pending his upcoming sentencing on numerous fraud and money laundering charges. This week, defense attorneys for Rubashkin filed an appeal of that decision, and have requested the court to impose more sanctions on their client to ensure his lack of flight.

…Defendant Rubashkin would respectfully submit a continuation of the prior conditions with additional conditions will ensure Defendant’s appearance at sentencing or any other court proceeding. On November 18, 2009, Defendant Rubashkin presented evidence that individuals stood ready and willing to post equity in their homes which totaled nearly $8,000,000. Additionally, sacred religious scrolls of nearly $500,000 were offered; the significance of the same in the Jewish religion, however, is priceless. Additionally, Defendant Rubashkin has requested the Court consider evidence presented at pretrial detention hearing. … Conditions such as curfew, home detention, or home incarceration may be ordered. Moreover, the Court may now subject Defendant Rubashkin to 24-hour armed surveillance and order Defendant Rubashkin to pay for the same…

Rubashkin and his wife, Leah, reside in the Postville area and are in the process of raising 10 children. One of the younger children, a son, has a developmental disability and, according to documents filed with the court, is extremely close to his father.

The Jewish community in Postville and beyond has long argued that Rubashkin’s religious faith and the bonds that he has formed in Iowa would prevent him from fleeing charges or criminal conviction.

In a perhaps naive move to show their solidarity and support of the Rubashkin family, some members of the Jewish community in Postville have placed signs in their windows and yards that placed a photograph of Rubashkin on top of an American flag with the phrase, “Send Sholom Home!” The signs, which area military veterans viewed as being akin to support signs for Prisoners Of War, have reignited cultural unrest within Postville, and are being offered up as further proof that the insular Jewish community there doesn’t fully understand the social ramifications of its actions, however well-meaning.

In the wake of Rubashkin’s conviction, University of Iowa professor Stephen Bloom, who authored a 2000 book about Postville, told The Iowa Independent that he knew “from the very beginning [that] almost all of Sholom Rubashkin’s actions reflected an mind-boggling sense of imperial disregard for just about everything that ethical, law-abiding people hold as plain and simple rules of civic and financial engagement.”

“Rubashkin always played very fast and very loose. He and his lieutenants seemed to be not just above the law, but above how employers and business people normally carry out their everyday tasks. There was an air of supreme arrogance swirling around Rubashkin and his men, particularly when it came to paying bills and accounting for those bills.”

Because the Rubashkin family came to Postville to begin a new community instead of joining with the existing one, Bloom said that a certain culture clash was simply inevitable.

“The larger issue to me wasn’t so much blending into the existing culture, it was a sense that Rubashkin and his men had come to town and really didn’t give a damn about anyone or anything — except making money their way. They were the new guys in Northeast Iowa, and what they said, went. If you didn’t like it, well, that was just too bad,” he said.

The sentiment of “you better get used to how we do business because we call the shots now” was one Bloom and others came to expect from Rubashkin and others within the Jewish community.

Bloom also predicted that the guilty verdict would spur “scores of Rubashkin loyalists to scream” anti-Semitism. Indeed, just hours after Rubashkin was taken into custody, the official a prominent Chabad Web site asserted that Rubashkin had been denied basic religious rights by federal authorities, and in the comments to that post as well as others on the site it has been suggested that “a frumer yid” doesn’t “deserve to be in jail together with goyishe criminals”:

now is certainly not the time to stand in judgement of sholom mordechai to decide whether or nor not he deserves to be in jail. He made some mistakes, I’mm sure he would not repeat, given what he is facing now. However, does a frumer yid deserve to be in a jail together with goyishe criminals? Absolutely NOT! EVERY SINGLE STOP needs to be pulled out to free him! INSTEAD of sending aroisgevorfener e-mails and faxes to stupid goyim – you should be banging down the doors of ALL “shluchim” who sat and ate like chazeirim at a “gala banquet” and who know and have contacts with key political top-dogs, that can have influence with senators, governors, congressmen/women, presidents, etc. THESE ARE THE ONES THAT YOU SHOULD MAKE THIER LIFE A LIVING H**L UNTIL they do something! that’s the only way anything can change for Sholom Mordechai. (al pi tevah) CALL, CALL, CALL, WRITE, FAX, FAX, FAX, 10-20-30 times a day until they poshut go nuts – and then they will do something! WHAT GOOD ARE THEY, AND WHAT GOOD ARE THIER CONNECTIONS IF NOT FOR THIS INYAN!? At least, if they are not doing the Rebbe’s shlichus, let them get a yid out of prison!

Matt M. Dummermuth

Matt Dummermuth, who was recommended for the post by U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, began serving as U.S. Attorney on Jan. 30, 2007. He succeeded Chuck Larson, Sr., who retired in December 2006, and Judy Whetstine, who served immediately following Larson’s departure, but soon also announced her own retirement.

“It has been a rewarding challenge to seek justice each day in each case for every defendant, every victim, and every member of the public,” Dummermuth said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to pursue justice and uphold the rule of law. It has been a wonderful privilege to serve and protect the people of Iowa.”

During his tenure as U.S. Attorney, Dummermuth, who is a native of Elgin, served on two national groups that advise the U.S. Attorney General — the Terrorism and National Security Subcommittee and the Child Exploitation Working Group of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee. These subcommittees mirrored two initiatives within the Northern District Office that Dummermuth considered to be top priorities. He led an anti-terrorism effort within his office and closely coordinated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies. The office also enhanced information flow with, and provided international and domestic terrorism training to, law enforcement at all levels.

Dummermuth is also credited with implementing a strong prosecution and prevention strategy for child exploitation crimes. The office has charged and convicted record numbers of defendants for child pornography production, distribution and possession as well as for enticement and travel-related child exploitation crimes. In addition to obtaining lengthy sentences in many of the cases, including 100 years for one such individual, Dummermuth spearheaded two Internet safety initiatives, and often traveled himself to present safety information to area middle school students.

Although his office will be known for these and the traditional drug trafficking, firearm and other violent offenses that are the standard within all U.S. Attorney Offices, he will always be best known for his role in the prosecution of more than 300 immigrant workers from the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville. Dummermuth led the worksite enforcement prosecution effort following the arrest of 389 plant workers. Under his direction the office prosecuted 305 of the workers for immigration and identity theft-related charges within days of their detention in a highly controversial process that quickly became known as “fast-tracking.”

Nearly a year following the May 2008 raid in Postville and subsequent guilty pleas, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that undocumented immigrants could not be charged with aggravated identity theft without proof that they had knowingly used another person’s documents. Although the decision did not address the situation that followed Postville, it did effectively end what many feared was becoming an unfair government tactic.

In addition to the immigrant workers, eight other management, administrative and supervisory employees at Agriprocessors — including the chief financial officer, controller, and human resources manager — pleaded guilty to bank fraud, harboring, or document fraud charges. Just earlier this month, a jury in South Dakota found Sholom Rubashkin, day-to-day manager at the plant and son of the company founder, guilty on 86 of a possible 91 charges ranging from fraud to money laundering.

Although Dummermuth was recommended by Grassley and later nominated by Pres. George W. Bush, he never faced U.S. Senate confirmation. He and his wife, Rebecca, are expecting their third child. He said that he has no immediate professional plans for the future, and that he plans to spend additional time with his family and working on his parents’ farm before making any decisions.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade has ordered that the Iowa meatpacking manager found guilty on 86 counts of fraud and money laundering will remain behind bars.

Sholom M. Rubashkin, who served as the day-to-day manager at Agriprocessors in Postville and is the son of company founder A. Aaron Rubashkin, will remain in the custody of U.S. Marshals until he is sentenced on the earlier conviction. It is unknown if Rubashkin, who recently had 72 immigration-related offenses against him dismissed, will remain in a county facility or will be moved to a federal prison. An exact sentencing date has not yet been established, and, since the process requires extensive reports for judicial review, the date could be several weeks from now.

In the bail hearing on Wednesday, the Rubashkin defense team pointed to the man’s strong community and family ties in Postville as well as his record of good behavior while on release pending trial. Prosecutors, on the other hand, told the court that the fact that Rubashkin was facing a sentence of possibly several hundred years in prison that the situation had changed significantly.

In addition, the prosecution called Mike Fischels, a special agent who has long been assigned to the Agriprocessors case, to testify about an overseas telephone conversation he had with a company supervisor still wanted by the government.

Fischels testified that he spoke with co-defendant Hosam Amara on the telephone about Amara’s flight from the U.S. to Israel. Amara indicated to Fischels that [Rubashkin] told him to leave the U.S. and return to Israel in order to remove himself from the situation facing Agriprocessors.

The government also presented a copy of a check and bank documents that suggest Rubashkin provided financial assistance to Amara around the time that he fled the U.S.

The court finds that the government’s evidence for detention is compelling.
Defendant’s actions prior to and during the pendency of the instant action, when coupled with the powerful incentive to flee due to the jury’s return of the Verdicts, demonstrates that Defendant poses a flight risk. The court notes that, in the Detention Order, it previously found that Defendant posed a flight risk.

The court acknowledges the overwhelming support that Defendant’s community has provided during the trial and the instant proceeding. The court also recognizes that Defendant took great pains to comply with the terms of his pretrial release. The court agrees that Defendant has shown he is committed to his family and to his community. Nevertheless, the court finds that this evidence does not rise to the “clear and convincing” level necessary to show that he is “not likely to flee [. . .] if released under [§] 3142(b) or(c).” 18 U.S.C. § 3143(a). Accordingly, the court shall grant the Motion.

Rubashkin’s defense team has pledged to appeal the fraud and money laundering convictions. It is unknown at this time, however, if they will also appeal this detention order.

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.

Sholom M. Rubashkin

Rubashkin, who is the 50-year-old son of Agriprocessors founder and president A. Aaron Rubashkin, was convicted of all possible money laundering and mail, wire and bank fraud charges. He was also convicted on 15 out of 20 counts of failing to provide timely pay to livestock auctions and providers.

The verdict followed nearly a month of testimony and evidence in which the government sought to paint Rubashkin as one, if not the, mastermind in a plot to defraud creditors. The defense team, in contrast, chose to portray Rubashkin as inexperienced, naive and unprepared to serve as day-to-day manager for such a large undertaking as the kosher meatpacking plant in Postville.

Following the lengthy reading of the verdict, Rubashkin was taken into federal custody, and his defense attorney, Guy Cook, pledged to appeal. Rubashkin is expected to return to eastern Iowa next week for sentencing and a possible bail hearing pending appeal. He faces a maximum sentence of more than 1,000 years in prison for the guilty verdicts.

An early December trial has been slated for an additional 72 federal immigration-related charges against Rubashkin, and he also faces a trial in state court this spring for possible child labor law violations.

All of the charges stem back to a massive May 12, 2008 immigration raid at the Postville facility. More than 300 immigrant workers detained by federal authorities pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to identity theft within days of their apprehension, and the bulk have been deported after serving brief federal prison sentences. Some immigrant workers, however, continue to live in and around Postville and are expected to be called by the prosecution in the upcoming trial.

The road between the actual raid and the federal trial in Sioux Falls, S.D., was long and has often wound its way through traditionally uncomfortable conversations for Americans regarding immigration, civil rights, religious expression and the composition and worth of charity.

The Rubashkin family, all ultra-orthodox Jews affiliated with the Hasidic Chabad Lubavitch movement, have at times suggested that the charges against them stem not from any alleged illegal activity, but from anti-Semitism. Throughout the investigation, and especially following the initial arrest and jailing of Sholom Rubashkin, many of the Jewish religious faithful, either through their own conscience or through the prodding and help of Chabad, have defended the Rubashkins from wrongdoing and stood as character witnesses for the family’s contributions.

Both inside and outside of Jewish circles, however, the Rubashkins have drawn criticism, many believing that generosity was born of ill-gotten-gains, harvested on the back of an underpaid and often mistreated immigrant workforce. Media reports, which prompted the move of the trials from Iowa to South Dakota, have given supposed victims of child labor and sexual harassment at the Postville plant a voice.

The company known as Agriprocessors fell into bankruptcy last year, and has re-emerged as AgriStar under the new ownership of SHF Industries, a venture of Canadian businessman Hershey Friedman. Heshy Rubaskin, brother to Sholom and son of Aaron, continues to work at the reborn business.

At least six former members of plant management or the human resources department have pleaded guilty in the wake of the 2008 immigration raid:

April 13, 2009 — Elizabeth Billmeyer, 48 and the former human resources manager, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to harbor undocumented aliens for profit and one count of knowingly accepting false resident alien cards.

March 19, 2009 — Penny Ann Hanson, 41 and a former human resources employee, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make false statements on immigration documents.

Dec. 10, 2008 — Karina Pilar Freund, 29 and a former human resources employee, pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of aiding and abetting a pattern or practice of hiring undocumented aliens.

Oct. 29, 2008 — Laura Althouse, 38 and a former human resources employee, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to harbor undocumented aliens and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Aug. 27, 2008 — Martin De La Rosa-Loera, 43 and a former plant supervisor, pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting the harboring of undocumented aliens.

Aug. 20, 2008 — Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, 35 and a former plant supervisor, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to hire illegal aliens and one count of aiding and abetting the hiring of illegal aliens.

Former plant operations manager Brent Beebe, 51, will soon be tried on immigration-related charges in federal court. Two additional plant managers — Hosam Amara and Zeev Levi — also face criminal charges, but have yet to be apprehended by authorities.

Rubashkin, the former day-to-day executive at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, recently had his federal trial moved from Iowa to Sioux Falls, S.D. in an effort to mitigate jury tainting due to excessive media coverage. He faces a host of immigration-related and fraud charges that stem from a May 2008 immigration raid at the Agriprocessors plant. On Thursday, a half-page advertisement ran on page 5 of The Des Moines Register that was paid for by “Friends of Sholom Rubashkin” using a Brooklyn, N.Y., address. It was a move which caught the ire of federal prosecutors as well as the judge who agreed to move the trial from Iowa to South Dakota to mitigate pre-trial publicity.

A half-page ad that ran Thursday in The Des Moines Register, linked to members of the Rubashkin family, has not appeared in Sioux Falls media where the trial of Sholom Rubashkin is scheduled to begin this month.

Chief Judge Linda R. Reade, according to The Gazette, said that if such an advertisement ran in the similarly Gannett-owned Sioux Falls newspaper, that she was “going to hit the roof.”

Guy Cook, defense attorney for Rubashkin, told the court that he was not aware of the advertisement and that it didn’t stem from the council of rabbis who are providing defense funding for his client. The address used in the advertisement, however, is also used by Rite Surgical Supplies, a company that has ties to the Rubashkin family. Levi Balkany, a grandson of Agriprocessors founder A. Aaron Rubashkin and nephew of Sholom M. Rubashkin, listed himself as vice president of Rite Surgical Supplies on forms required by the Federal Elections Commission by those who make political contributions.

Levi Balkany is the son of one of Aaron Rubashkin’s daughters and Milton Balkany, a Rabbi who was charged in 2003 with misappropriation of nearly $1 million in federal grant money intended for disabled students at a Jewish school. After Milton Balkany apologized and made restitution, he did not face prosecution. Milton Balkany has also been referred to as the “Brooklyn bundler” for his ability to gather and bundle numerous campaign donations (many from Rubashkin family members) for primarily Republican candidates, in exchange for consideration of issues important for Orthodox Jewish institutions. Part of the federal deal for deferring prosecution on the grant money was that Balkany would be barred from lobbying the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, although federal prosecutors declined to elaborate on why this particular activity was of importance.

Levi Balkany is one of 16 individuals, members of the Chabad Jewish Community in Brooklyn, that were named in December 2008 to “The Committee of Concerned Anash for Pidyon Shevuyim,” a group organized to create a top-notch legal team for Sholom Rubashkin and to mount a donation and public relations campaign on his behalf.

In a press release the committee said that they want “the public to know they are the official group to assist and aid the Rubashkins, endorsed by the family” and that they have “years of experience in dealing with pidyon shevuyim (prisoner of war) cases.”

Although the committee’s efforts have been prominent in Jewish circles, the half-page ad in Iowa is one of the few times the group has sought to sway overall public sentiment regarding the case. Weekday reach of The Des Moines Register into the Sioux Falls area is roughly 3,500 households, according to a company spokesperson.

Judge Reade, citing media accounts that prohibited seating an impartial jury in the case, decided in August to move the upcoming trial from Iowa to South Dakota. At that time, the court warned prosecutors and defense attorneys about tainting the Sioux Falls media prior to the start of the trial, which is scheduled for Oct. 10.

Defense attorneys during a pretrial hearing in Cedar Rapids on Thursday argued that prosecutors had already dismissed the court’s warning by sending out press releases announcing the guilty plea of Mitchel Meltzer, a former chief financial officer at the plant, to numerous press outlets, including those in Sioux Falls. Despite the press releases not being targeted to that specific media market, Judge Reade nonetheless admonished the prosecuting team.

Reporters covering the case in Sioux Falls, according to Reade, will not be allowed any access to immediate story filing through blogs or social networking sites like twitter. Laptops and cellphones will be barred.

A Moving Video of the Daughter of Sholom Rubashkin from Zalman Tevel on Vimeo.

The video, along with a link to a donation page run by the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education, reminds members of the Jewish community that “Pidyon Shvuyim is one of the greatest mitzvos possible.” Pidyon Shvuyim is the doctrine that commands Jews to redeem captives, which, according to the Jewish law called the Mishneh Torah, “takes precedence over supporting the poor or clothing them.”  This belief is further explained in the Yoreh Dei’ah, Chapter 252, which states: “Ransoming Captives takes precedence over feeding and clothing the poor, and no mitzvah is as great as ransoming captives. Therefore, any money which is collected, even for a religious purpose, may be diverted to ransom captives even if it is raised for the purpose of building a synagogue…”

While non-Jewish readers may not understand the significance of “ransoming captives,” it has been a very real and unfortunate part of Jewish history. The first likely incident was highlighted in the Bible when Lot, nephew of Abraham, was taken captive during the battle between Mesopotamian and Canaanite kings. Enemies and rogues learned that taking Jews captive could be very lucrative since the community was mandated and bound by law to pay the ransom. Historically, then, Pidyon Shvuyim has been used to gather or collect funds for the release of prisoners of war or others being held hostage against their will.

According to information published by Shmarya Rosenberg at Failed Messiah, the pledge drive for the legal fund appears to be a continuance of a prayer vigil and other activities for the benefit of the Rubashkin family. Rosenberg notes that there is no way to designate specific purposes of Pidyon Shvuyim funds donated via the site, and that all donated funds will be placed in the Rubashkin legal defense fund.

“It has been a very challenging year for us,” Weiss notes in the video as photos of her father in custody are shown. She also notes that the situation has been an opportunity for the family to renew their faith.

“Now, a few days before Yom Kippur, I ask you to please open your hearts and help my father who never turned anyone down,” she says. “The lawyers estimate that from now until the end of trial it cost about $500,000.”

Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, begins at sundown on Sunday, Sept. 27, and ends at nightfall on Monday, Sept. 28. It is considered the holiest of holy days of the Jewish year.

Sholom Rubashkin served as the day-to-day manager at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville at the time of a massive immigration raid that resulted in 389 plant workers, most Guatemalan or Mexican, being detained by federal authorities. He was taken into custody by federal authorities in the fall of 2008, and is currently facing a litany of charges ranging from bank fraud to immigration-related offenses. Chief Judge Linda R. Reade ruled last month that due to negative media, Rubashkin could not receive a fair trial in Iowa and moved the proceedings to Sioux Falls, S.D. The trial is set to begin on Oct. 10.

Rubashkin and his legal team have launched a law suit against the federal government, citing that officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not provide a response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Rubashkin asked the government to provide any and all documentation in relation to the May 2008 raid in Postville, which led to the 163 charges he now faces.

Rubashkin and several other members of plant management, including his father, A. Aaron Rubashkin, who resides in Brooklyn, N.Y. and founded the company, also face several thousand state charges of alleged child-labor law violations.

The plant, which has emerged from bankruptcy proceedings, is now organized with a new name, Agri-Star, and is under new management. It continues to operate in Postville.

Jewish Community Action, an organization that has remained involved in Postville in the wake of the May 2008 immigration raid at the plant, has developed a home-printed card to be sent to Daniel Hirsch of Agri Star for the Jewish New Year.

Rosh Hashanah signals a fresh start.

With it, may this year be filled with health and happiness for your company, for the workers at Agri Star, for the town of Postville, for consumers, and for the broader community.

In the spirit of new beginnings, we hope you will accept a meeting with the Postville Community Benefits Alliance to develop an agreement that will ensure:

• the health and safety of the workforce
• strong and open lines of communication with the town
• much business success, and
• renewed consumer confidence

L’shanah tovah tikatev v’taihatem

May you be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life for a good year.

The card, which when folded is pre-addressed to Agri Star in Postville, is intended to be mailed prior to Sukkot, which is in early October.

“As the Jewish community prepares for the holiest of days of the year — a time for reflection, renewal and fresh starts — we invite you to join us in expressing our hopes for improved conditions and better practices under the new owners’ leadership,” Jewish Community Action notes in a prepared statement.

The Postville Community Benefits Alliance is comprised of several groups within and outside of the immediate community. Representatives from local religious congregations, various civic organizations and larger interested parties, including Jewish Community Action, play a role. It was formed in hopes that with better communication mistakes of the past will not repeat themselves.

The Agriprocessors meatpacking plant was the site of one of the nation’s largest single-site immigration enforcement efforts. A total of 389 workers, most from Guatemala and Mexico, were detained by federal authorities. Most faced criminal prosecution for identity theft-related charges and served five months in federal prison prior to deportation to their home countries.

The Agriprocessors plant was owned and operated by the Rubashkin family. The company founder was A. Aaron Rubashkin of Brooklyn, N.Y., and two of his sons, Sholom M. Rubashkin and Tzvi “Heshy” Rubashkin, lived in Postville and oversaw the plant operations on a day-to-day basis. The plant never fully recovered after the May 2008 raid. Shortly after Sholom was arrested by federal authorities in November 2008 on immigration-related charges, the company filed bankruptcy.

The physical plant and most of the fully owned equipment within was purchased by SHF Industries, run by chief executive Daniel Hirsh, and the company has been reborn as Agri Star.

Federal charges against Sholom Rubashkin and three other former supervisors remain pending, the trial set to begin on Oct. 13 in Sioux Falls, S.D. Sholom as well as Aaron Rubashkin and other former plant officials also face state charges for alleged violations of child labor laws. That trial is scheduled to begin next year.