Stories

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals declined to act on bail release petitions from Sholom Rubashkin, former day-to-day manager at a now defunct Iowa meatpacking company who was convicted on numerous charges of financial fraud last fall.
The Agriprocessors plant, which was sold through bankruptcy proceedings and now operates under new ownership as AgriStar, was the [...]

The day-to-day manager at a Postville meatpacking plant will stay in federal prison following a decision by U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to deny him bail while he awaits sentencing. The plant’s operation manager also entered a guilty plea Monday to his role in aiding undocumented workers find work at the now defunct slaughterhouse.

The first Agriprocessors supervisor sentenced following a massive immigration raid at the Postville meatpacking plant is requesting the court review his sentence on a belief that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling will mitigate it.
Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, 36, was sentenced to and is serving 36 months in federal prison. Two years of that sentence was a [...]

Four local U.S. Department of Justice officials were recognized nationally at the annual Executive Office for United States Attorneys Director’s Awards ceremony today for their work in relation to an Internet pharmacy case.
Those honored were First Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Murphy, paralegal specialist Brenda Nietert, Drug Enforcement Administration investigator Sarah Boblenz and newly-named U.S. Attorney [...]

Producers who received letter from bankruptcy court urged to contact Iowa Cattlemen’s Association
Some Iowa cattle producers that sold livestock to the now-defunct Agriprocessors meatpacking operation in Postville have received an unexpected and unwanted piece of holiday mail from the federal bankruptcy court.

Smoldering culture clashes reignite in Postville
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.

Saying that the past three years have been “an honor” and “a wonderful privilege,” the man tasked with leading the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa resigned Tuesday so that the office could be led by Stephanie Rose, an office veteran and career prosecutor who was recently confirmed by the U.S. Senate [...]

Government asserts that Rubashkin aided flight of Agriprocessors co-worker to Israel
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 Rubashkin won’t be heading back to court to face 72 counts of immigration-related charges after all.

A jury in Sioux Falls, S.D., returned to the courtroom late Thursday afternoon and delivered judgment on former Agriprocessors manager Sholom M. Rubashkin: Guilty on 86 of 91 possible counts.

Rubashkin, who is the 50-year-old son of company 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.