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JURY FINDS SHOLOM RUBASHKIN ‘NOT GUILTY’ OF EMPLOYING MINORS

Verdict Raises Questions About Validity of Federal Bank Fraud Conviction and Irrelevant Evidence Offered by Prosecutors

WATERLOO, Iowa – Family, friends and supporters of Sholom Rubashkin were gratified Monday as a state-court jury found him innocent of all charges related to the employment of underage workers at Agriprocessors’ Postville kosher meatpacking plant. The jury’s verdict vindicates Rubashkin’s assertion that he had no knowledge of underage workers at the plant.

“On behalf of my family and Sholom’s supporters around the world, we are deeply grateful to the Iowa state jury for their verdict,” said Leah Rubashkin, Sholom’s wife. “We have maintained from the very beginning that Sholom is innocent, and are heartened that the jury unanimously agreed.” The Rubashkin family also expressed their gratitude toward attorneys Mark Weinhardt and F. Montgomery Brown for their presentation of his defense.

Rubashkin was initially charged by the Iowa Attorney General with 9,311 counts of hiring underage workers before prosecutors reduced the number of counts to 83 before trial and the judge allowed 67 to be presented to the jury.

“This is a vindication by a courageous jury that Sholom is not the kind of man that would want minors working his father’s plant,” said F. Montgomery Brown, a member of the Rubashkin defense team.

The verdict also raises serious questions about the validity of the federal bank fraud conviction, for which Rubashkin is expected to be sentenced by Hon. Linda Reade, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, on June 22. Rubashkin has stated that he intends to appeal that conviction on various grounds, including the trial judge’s ruling that permitted federal prosecutors to introduce irrelevant evidence that illegal aliens were employed at the plant while refusing to allow Rubashkin’s lawyers to present evidence refuting the prosecution’s proof.

“Sholom Rubashkin was irrefutably harmed during the federal trial by being falsely portrayed as responsible for the employment of illegal workers,” said Guy Cook, a member of the Rubashkin defense team. “We believe this had a profound impact on the jury, and tainted the federal trial. If the federal jury had been permitted to hear both sides of the issue, they would probably have found that Sholom Rubashkin was not responsible for the employment of illegal workers.”

The overzealous prosecution of Sholom Rubashkin has garnered national attention, including from legal scholars across the country. Six former U.S. attorneys general a signed a letter to the federal court judge criticizing the federal prosecutors’ recommendation that Rubashkin receive life in prison for his bank fraud conviction.