Criminal Action Still in Progress Against Kosher Slaughterhouse in Iowa
Some two years after a raid on a Postville, Iowa, kosher slaughterhouse for the employment of hundreds of illegal immigrants, charges of child-labor law violations are apparently about to be tried in state court against former executive Sholom Rubashkin. Prosecutors reportedly dropped many related charges against other individuals on the eve of trial. Rubashkin, who was also charged with bank, mail and wire fraud and violations of the Packers & Stockyards Act, appeared at a federal court sentencing hearing in late April 2010, facing a potential life sentence in prison. According to news sources, the court will hand down a sentencing order sometime in May; a number of former U.S. attorneys general and U.S. attorneys submitted a letter to the court to express concern about the imposition of a life sentence on a first-time, non-violent offender. See National Law Journal and The Blog of Legal Times, April 26, 2010; Feedstuffs.com, April 30, 2010; Meatingplace.com, May 5, 2010
