The criminal complaint is the first against any high-level member of Agriprocessors management and comes in the wake of a massive May 12 immigration raid at the plant. In all, 389 workers — nearly half the plant’s workforce — were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

According to documents filed with the court, Rubashkin “did knowingly conspire, confederate and agree with others, for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain, to harbor one or more aliens at his place of employment in Postville, Iowa, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that such aliens had come to, entered and remained in the United States and aided and abetted the possession and use of fraudulent identification documents and aided and abetted aggravated identity theft.”

According to Michael Fischels, a special agent with the Dept. of Homeland Security, dozens of fraudulent permanent resident alien cards were discovered and seized from offices within the human resources department at Agriprocessors during the May 12 raid.

“Most of the cards were attached to application paperwork dated May 11 or May 12, 2008,” Fischels wrote in the affidavit filed with the court. “Additional resident alien cards were groups in stacks and not attached to any paperwork. Based upon common features, ICE agents determined that the vast majority of the fraudulent resident alien cards came from the same manufacturer. Out of approximately 96 fraudulent resident alien cards, approximately 90 exhibited alien registration numbers which were then assigned to other actual persons.”

Fischels added that approximately 13 of the cards taken from the offices had photographs of people known to be working at the plant prior to May 11. All but two of the cards, however, “exhibited names which were different than the names the employees had been working under.”

The fraudulent resident alien cards are crucial to the case the government is making against Rubashkin because they are a physical link to claims made by former employees that Rubashkin provided $4,500 in cash as a loan to employees who could not afford to update their falsified documents.

The former plant supervisors, who remain unidentified in the affidavit, allegedly met with Rubashkin near the barn area on the Agriprocessors’ grounds on May 8 and asked for $4,500 to help employees slated for termination purchase new fraudulent documents. According to court documents, Rubashkin provided the supervisors the money in cash the following morning.

The unidentified supervisor, who worked in the beef-kill area, in turn presented employees in that department with $200 each as a loan so the employees could purchase the new documents from a different plant foreman, who was arranging for the purchase of the falsified documents. The documents for 39 or 40 employees were brought to the plant on May 11 by the foreman and distributed by the foreman and the unnamed supervisor.

An unidentified human resources employee is quoted in the affidavit as saying that s/he was personally asked by Sholom Rubashkin to process a large number of new employee applications on May 11. This same employee suspected that the new applicants were the employees slated for termination the previous Friday, and also identified at least one of the applicants as such.

Rubashkin will make an initial appearance in federal court for the Northern District of Iowa this afternoon. Requests for comment from Agriprocessors spokespersons have not yet garnered a response.

Update: A request for comment from Menachem Lubinsky, family friend and long-time spokesperson for Agriprocessors, was returned with the following response: “Sorry, but we do not represent Agriprocessors at this time.” A phone operator at Agriprocessors took contact information, but could not provide an alternate number where a company spokesperson could be reached.

According to Rabbi Menachem Weissmandl, however, information surrounding the recent compensation spat between management and Jewish employees at the plant falls so squarely within the sacred that it cannot be discussed.

“As the supervising rabbi for all glatt kosher meat and strictly kosher poultry at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, I am responsible for the well-being of the slaughterers (shochtim) and supervising (mashgichim) rabbis,” said Weissmandl in an e-mail to Iowa Independent on Thursday. “To protect the integrity of the kashruth, their relationship is strictly with us. Under no circumstances can we permit that this relationship be compromised and thus is off limits to outside scrutiny, as is prescribed by Jewish law.”

Delivered by Menachem Lubinsky, president of the marketing firm Lubicom and a spokesman for Agriprocessors, the statements from Weissmandl came in response to an inquiry submitted by Iowa Independent in relation to Jewish workers walking off the job Wednesday.

When the Agriprocessors plant was at full production, it was believed as many as 70 rabbis were needed to oversee and perform the sacramental slaughter of livestock according to halakha, or Jewish law. Plant officials freely admit that the plant has not been at such high production levels since a federal immigration raid in May resulted in the detention of nearly 400 of the company’s estimated 900 workers.

“It is no secret that Agriprocessors was forced to cut back production of meat and poultry after more than a third of its labor force was seized in a May 12th raid by [Immigration and Customs Enforcement],” Lubinsky said. “While the company has made big strides in hiring new workers and restoring production, it is still significantly behind May 12th levels.”

It has been this inability to secure a stable workforce that led to what Lubinsky described as a compensation “lag” and the ultimate protest by the Jewish workers this week.

“For the kosher slaughterers … and rabbis, this has meant not being able to work multiple shifts and a 6-day work week, cutting into their ability to make more money, while also making do with the company’s policy of a lag-time in their paychecks,” he explained.

The brief standoff between workers and management came to a close when a tentative compensation agreement was reached, according to sources at Agriprocessors. Those same sources have stated that the agreement was for the disgruntled workers to receive some compensation at the end of the work day. It was an agreement, Iowa Independent has been told, that was not kept. The vast majority of the employees, however, were at work on the production line today and are anticipated to return tomorrow. The plant will close on Saturday for observance of Shabbat and, according to three independent sources in Postville, Weissmandl be in eastern Iowa on Sunday to speak personally with the workers.

Iowa Independent requested more information from Lubinsky regarding the upcoming Postville visit and a clarification of the role played Weissmandl during the Wednesday negotiations. In addition, we asked for confirmation on information provided to us by residents of Postville and workers at Agriprocessors regarding the status of Rabbis that have taken employment at the plant in the wake of the raid as well as those who have left employment. The final two requests were for a clarification of the role Sholom Rubashkin, former president at the Postville operation and son of Agriprocessors founder Aaron Rubashkin, and a request for a face-to-face interview with various members of plant management. All were ignored.

“The rabbis and shochtim under our jurisdiction are hand-picked pious Orthodox Jews who are fully committed to the observance of the highest level of kashruth at the plant,” Weissmandl said in closing.

Menachem Lubinsky, president of marketing consulting company Lubicom and spokesman for Agriprocessors, released a public statement Wednesday afternoon to outline what the meatpacking plant and its management has done in relation to the child labor investigation.

“Agriprocessors’ published ‘job orders’ — notices seeking applicants for open positions — always specify that applicants must be at least 18 years old,” he said. “It has been and always will be our policy never to hire underage workers. Applicants sometimes falsify their ages in order to gain employment.”

Lubinsky added that four women were fired in 2007 when the companies human resources department discovered the employees had falsified their birth dates.

“The Iowa Labor Commissioner initiated an investigation into child labor allegations in January 2008, with a letter to Agri,” Lubinsky said. “Agri cooperated in the investigation and responded promptly, explaining its hiring procedure and stating that, to its knowledge, no minors were then employed at the plant. The Labor Commisser’s Office replied with a request for more detailed information from Agri, and the requested data was supplied 10 days later.”

Lubinsky said that the Iowa Division of Labor conducted an unannounced on-site inspection of the plant on April 3.

“The team walked throughout the facility, viewing the workforce and even questioning certain employees, and identified no minors working at the plant,” he said. “Nonetheless, two weeks later, a government attorney told Agri that the government believed that some Agri employees were underage. Agri asked explicitly that these workers be identified, so that their employment could be terminated. The request was rejected.

“The commissioner’s attorney stated that, before releasing names, she wanted to review Agri’s records to ensure the individuals in question previously worked or are currently working at Agri.”

According to Lubinsky, plant management and staff from the Iowa Division of Labor were scheduled to review employee records on May 21. On May 12, the plant was the site of the nation’s largest single-location immigration raid. A total of 389 workers were detained, nearly all from Guatemala and Mexico.

“On May 12, before that review occurred and before the commissioner identified the supposed underage workers of which he was aware, [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] conducted its raid at Postville and arrested persons who claim to be underage and who admit to having obtained employment with false documents,” Lubinsky said.

“Nothwithstanding the leisurely pace of its investigation, the inability of even the government’s expert to identify any employees in the plant as minors, and the refusal to disclose the identities of any employees who the Labor Commissioner believed to be employed in violation of child labor laws, the commissioner has now issued an inflammatory press release alleging that there were ‘57 cases’ and ‘egregious violations.’ Agri categorically denies the suggestion that it knowingly hired or retained minors as employees and it protests the issuance of a press release that has patently been motivated by a desire to ride the crest of the wave of current public opinion adverse to Agri.”

On Tuesday, the Iowa Division of Labor announced that an investigation into possible child labor violations at the Agriprocessors plant was complete and that the findings — 57 cases that each have multiple child labor violations — were turned over the Iowa Attorney General’s Office for prosecution. Commissioner Dave Neil described the violations as “egregious” and encouraged criminal prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.

Eric Tabor, chief of staff in the Attorney General’s Office, refused to provide any specifics in relation to the case, including the range of fines and/or punishment associated with the alleged offenses.

Kerry Koonce, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Division of Labor, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday that the violations are considered misdemeanor offenses and are carried out against the company, not the company’s individual members of management. She added that the Iowa Attorney General’s Office would make the final determination as to the charges, if any, and the final verdict in the case will determine the penalty.

“They can go back 12 months from the date the investigation was complete and passed to prosecutors,” she said. “In Iowa, the rule of the thumb is roughly $50 per day, per instance.”

The Iowa Division of Labor is continuing to investigate Agriprocessors for general wage violations.

The first portion of an investigation into possible child labor violations at Agriprocessors in Postville is closed, and findings have been turned over the Iowa Attorney General for prosecution.

The Iowa Labor Commissioner’s Office said the investigation was “intensive” and produced 57 cases that each have multiple child labor violations. A second arm of the investigation as well as an investigation into general wage violations remain ongoing and may lead to additional charges.

“The investigation brings to light egregious violations of virtually every aspect of Iowa’s child labor laws,” said Iowa Labor Commissioner Dave Neil. “It is my recommendation that the Attorney General’s Office prosecute these violations to the fullest extent of the law.”

Investigators found that minors worked in prohibited occupations, that improper work permits were obtained, that minors were exposed to hazardous chemicals and prohibited equipment and that the hours minors were required to work exceeded what was allowed.

In a statement released this afternoon by Agriprocessors spokesman Menachem Lubinsky expressed dismay.

“Agriprocessors is at a loss to understand the Iowa Labor Commissioner’s referral and press release of today on the issue of alleged child labor at Agriprocessors. As the government knows, it is Agriprocessors’ policy not to hire underage workers, and to terminate any employees who are determined to be under 18 years of age. In fact, in 2007, Agriprocessors terminated four employees whom it determined were underage and had provided false documents in order to obtain employment.

“The Company has cooperated with the government throughout its investigation, providing documents and opening its plant and its records to government inspection. In early 2008, government inspectors came to the Postville plant, looked for underage workers, identified two youthful looking employees for further investigation, investigated their background and ultimately allowed the employees to return to work. The company allowed the Iowa Department of Labor to tour the plant and interview any employee they saw fit. They toured every department in the plant and interviewed any worker they wanted and found no minors. Agriprocessors was told that the Department’s group consisted of five people, one of which one was an expert in identifying minors. At no time did the government identify to the company any violations.

“When the government told Agriprocessors in April 2008 that it knew that underage employees were working at the Postville plant, Agriprocessors repeatedly requested that the government identify those workers so that the company could terminate them. The Iowa Labor Commissioner’s Office refused. As a result of the government’s decision, apparently those children may have continued to work at the plant and presumably at least some were arrested in the May 12 ICE enforcement action.

“The government now has seen fit to issue a press release alleging child labor law violations. The government’s press release does not state that the company knowingly hired underage workers. The company asks the public to keep an open mind and wait for the evidence before making any judgments about these, or any other, allegations.”

Typically, child labor investigations are prosecuted by the county attorney. In this case, however, the Allamakee County Attorney’s Office told the state agency to give the case directly to the Iowa Attorney General.

Eric J. Tabor, chief of staff in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, refused to go into specifics in relation to the case, including the minimum and maximum fines and punishment allowable by law. Instead, he provided the following statement:

“The Attorney General’s Office is serving in the role of prosecutor, at the request of the Allamakee County Attorney. We are cooperating with the Iowa State Division of Labor and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, which are investigating in this matter. We will enforce Iowa criminal law if there have been violations of the law.”

Tabor concluded by stating that charges are “merely an accusation and any potential defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”

Agriprocessors, the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant and Postville’s largest employer, was the site of the largest single-site immigration enforcement event in national history. In total, 389 workers were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Most of the detainees faced criminal charges related to identify theft and were quickly convicted through plea bargains. After being charged criminally, six of the defendants were discovered to be juveniles. In addition, 23 juveniles detained during the raid were released to responsible adults or specialists.

“What’s ironic is that [Agriprocessors] is currently being investigated, and there are two plant supervisors sitting in jail for encouraging people to use false identities,” Allen said. “Now the Agriprocessors’ PR firm believes it is acceptable to just take someone else’s identity and run with it. It is outrageous to say the least.”

Allen, founder of a movement to create ethical standards for the production of kosher food known as Hekhsher Tzedek and resident of St. Paul, Minn., is a prominent critic of Agriprocessors. The comments attributed to Allen were posted in response to writing on FailedMessiah.com, a Minnesota-based blog run by Shmarya Rosenberg that has taken a strict stance against the Rubashkin family, owners of Agriprocessors. The first comment featured Allen’s name, spelled incorrectly. The second was posted while the real Allen presided over his aunt’s funeral in Omaha, Neb.

“When I first learned of it, I was initially very concerned just about my own personal well-being to be honest with you,” Allen said. “If this is the level of behavior that is going on now — just taking people’s identities and using them — what would they do as the stakes were raised? Subsequently, being on vacation, I’m less worried about myself. But I’m still somewhat outraged that I’ve never received a formal apology or that Hekhsher Tzedek has never received a formal apology.”

When blog owner Rosenberg researched the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, or numerical identification assigned to computers when they connect to the internet, he learned that the person leaving the comments was logged on to a computer that was connected to the public relation firm’s network.

The firm in question — 5W Public Relations — was hired by Agriprocessors last month in an effort to stymie rising public sentiment against the company, especially within the Jewish community. The firm was recently heralded in a leading trade magazine as having a “BS-free approach,” and has an extensive client list that includes Fannie Mae, Pamela Anderson, Def Jam Interactive, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, Pastor John Hagee, the American Jewish Congress, the Christian Coalition, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Shalom TV, Christians United for Israel, and the American Bible Society.

Ronn Torossian, chief executive officer of 5W, acknowledges the incident occurred and points to corporate growing pains as a portion of the cause.

“… my [Internet Technology] Department investigated accusations which we have now learned to be true,” Torossian told Iowa Independent. “A senior staff member failed to be transparent in dealing with client matters. He has taken full responsibility. Growing companies often have problems in their expansion, and we continue to strive for the highest performance. We have instituted internal measures to ensure this cannot happen again. We continue to strive for the highest ethical standards.”

Torossian also expressed his firm’s determination to protect Jewish dietary laws, or kashrut.

“This battle is not about blogging,” he said. “It is, however, about protecting the highest levels of kashrut in the Jewish community. We, as a firm, feel personally and professionally passionate about these, and related issues. Critics of traditional Judaism have chosen to smear the largest provider of the highest kashrut meat in the world. We stand with protecting kashrut.”

Allen said he and the Hekhsher Tzedek organization, having already been in contact with an attorney, are just as determined to follow this incident to its conclusion.

“I do believe there will be some action taken,” Allen said. “I don’t know if that will be in the form of a suit, but we will definitely be in contact with 5W. … Instead of dealing with the message of Hekhsher Tzedek, which is a compelling message for many of us in the Jewish community who want to keep kosher and who want to ensure that the food we are buying is produced in a way that not only adheres to ritual but also ethical standards, Agriprocessors has decided that it is much easier to attack the messenger. I find that to be appalling.”

When originally notified of the fraudulent comments, representatives with 5W denied the allegations. Shortly thereafter, the comments were acknowledged, but the firm claimed they were made by an intern who had subsequently been fired. Only after further investigation proved some comments were posted from the firm’s offices and the home of a senior vice president, Juda Engelmayer, did Torossian admit the full episode.

In addition to the postings at FailedMessiah.com and other Jewish blogs, Engelmayer also used a home account to impersonate the grassroots Jewish organization Uri L’Tzedek on Essential Estrogen, the personal blog maintained by this reporter. The comment, made in response to an article detailing the indictment of two Agriprocessors’ supervisors, was the full text of the Uri L’Tzedek press release that lifted the group’s boycott on Rubashkin labels. The comment was posted nearly 10 hours after another thread had already announced the boycott being lifted.

Jim Fallon, a person to which Agriprocessors management had previously directed press inquiries, told Iowa Independent that his firm, CMA, had not done work for the company for nearly three weeks.

“CMA is not involved with any public relations activities involving Agriprocessors’ online presence,” Fallon wrote in e-mail. “Our role was to help the company communicate the activities and decisions made to enhance its immigration compliance in response to the ICE worksite enforcement action. We have not been engaged in any communications activities with Agriprocessors since July 1, 2008.”

Although Menachem Lubinsky, a spokesman for Agriprocessors and chief executive officer of the kosher industry consulting firm Lubicom, originally told The Jewish Forward that he expected 5W to deal with “negative publicity and blogs,” he had no such comments when contacted by Iowa Independent.

“My firm has been and is still doing public relations work for Agriprocessors, and we are the contact for media inquiries,” Lubinsky wrote in an e-mail. “On the subject of 5WPR, the company will have no further information on this subject.”

Rosenberg’s research into the IP addresses used to post comments on his blog indicates that at least 40 comments were made from computers on the 5W network. In addition to Allen, two other individuals known to that blogging community were impersonated.