Sholom Rubashkin, left, during a farbrengen in Postville. - Stock Photo.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA [AP] — A judge has ruled that the former manager of an Iowa slaughterhouse that was the site of a large immigration raid is a flight risk and should remain in federal custody.

Sholom Rubashkin is Denied Bail

Sholom Rubashkin, left, during a farbrengen in Postville. – Stock Photo.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA [AP] — A judge has ruled that the former manager of an Iowa slaughterhouse that was the site of a large immigration raid is a flight risk and should remain in federal custody.

U.S. Magistrate Jon Scoles issued the order Thursday for Sholom Rubashkin. The former CEO of Agriprocessors Inc. was arrested last week on bank fraud charges.

Federal agents say they found about $20,000 and passports in a travel bag in Rubashkin’s bedroom.

Prosecutors also allege Rubashkin tried to tamper with evidence when he was released from jail on other charges including harboring illegal immigrants.

Trial on those charges is scheduled for Jan. 20. A trial hasn’t been set on the bank fraud charge.

48 Comments

  • Mother

    They are out to get him. Only Hashem can make a miracle now.. I hear the echoes of Jonathan Pollard. This is very frightening

  • CN

    Sad day for the United States Constitution and the presumption of innocence. Hopefully the Appellate Court will overturn this unconstitutional decision.

  • WHAT??????????

    What passports? Surely he’s not that stupid? I don’t believe it! $20,000 wouldn’t get him very far. This is insane.

  • g-ds right hand man

    It would seem the books got mixed up because a chicagoan ( Home of hebrew national) is the president elect and Mr. Rubashkin is a noble man that was developing agricultural communities for there to be minyans in places that didn’t ever hear the word’s shma yisroel before
    If it is really a kosher beef story
    What is seperating israel/g-d from each other/supreme unification this time ?

  • cher

    yep, their making it sound like 20 thou would get him anywhere…if ur trying to flee, u need everything in cash, money to bribe, buy tickets, to live off… 20 thou wouldn’t last a week.
    Also, I thought they took his passport! If they feel like they can’t do their job correctly, they shouldn’t hold someone who is innocent till proven guilty. if they think taking away a passport and putting a gps on someone won’t keep them here, they should reevaluate their dumb methods.
    This seems totally unconstitutional. I’m starting to hate america.

  • We need a leader!

    Bs”d
    Please-anybody reading this thing know if writing letters of protest will help?
    Can they appeal this in court?
    Maybe the family can have someone who knows how to deal with these type of things present a case to Bush for a pardon for the whole Rubashkin story before he leaves office.
    This is very frightening!!!
    Hashem Yirachem!!!
    Anyone have any advice?????????

  • baruch

    president bush — you can create 3 miracles before you leave office
    1- pardon pollard
    2- pardon rubashin
    3- pardon conrad black
    ad mosai. when will the jew’s nightmare end

  • Menachem

    Oy vey, people please . There is not going to be a Bush pardon because the chap in Iowa hasn’t even been convicted yet. You can only be pardoned if you were convicted.

    Mister Rubashkin has to stand trial. Maybe then, in a few years, after a few Lubavitchers learn how the pardons work, might they give enough to get this guy out of jail. but that in itself is illegal.
    Get one thing straight, my fellow yidden. This was not anti semitism. Grow up and stop the nutcase screaming. The Rubashkins played fast and loose russian politics in the United states and they lost. Both Shalom and Moishe. Played like at Las Vegas by the federal law and lost.

    Let’s hope by the ohel with tehillim that Anash is not plagued again by such actions over there.

  • G-ds right hand man

    what we need in an integration of g-ds laws that all of israel can accept and abide by so with one law there can be less questions and more direction towards success of the children of israel and the supporters of the children of the Patriarch Jacob OB’M

  • Nobody

    “You can only be pardoned if you were convicted.”

    That is not true. Look up Nixon.

    The Dallas Independant School district paid under fake social security numbers, and no one is going to jail. Draw your own conclusions.

  • To Menachem!

    Well said! Finally a voice of reason and maturity amont the ghettoed Lubavitchers who consider an arrest for a federal crime to be equivalent to anti-Semitic persecution!

  • The Verdict is out

    When they decide their coming after you,
    they will get you one way or the other.

    It’s really sad, because in the end of the day they can come after anybody (we don’t all know every single law and we brake a few not even knowing).

    Sadly you don’t have to tell me what his verdict is going to be (according to logic anyways). The verdict is already written and signed now they are just going through formalities.

    With Hashems help everything will be good!

  • Gershon

    It seems like either the agents are lying or he needs a better lawyer with a GRoysse pisc who’s not afraid to use it. Ala Ron Kuby Sanford Rubenstien etc.By the way. If his passport & his wife’s were already surrendered where did he get another on e from??? & how He was wearing a ankle gps bracelet & they knew where he was at all times no???

  • action is the main thing

    To Menachem:
    blood is thicker than water! WE are all one body! would you cut your right hand cuz left hand did something? i just hope Hashem doesn’t give you half the test they had/have

  • sad

    You know..if u are not in support of this family..u have a right to your own thoughts and feelings….HOWEVER…to publicly shame them like this is incredibly insensitive…pleae…lets have a little respect.

  • pardon

    regardless of whether someone can be pardoned before being convicted of a crime or not
    president Bush basically said he is not going to have a pardoning party like president Clinton had before he left office he has issued very strict/tough guidelines to be eligible for a pardon from him

    meaning even if Rubashkin applied for a pardon he will NOT get one

  • YankyDoodle

    Just for clarity and to reiterate what “Nobody” wrote, in response to “Menachem’s” wrongful claim that “Oy vey, people please . There is not going to be a Bush pardon because the chap in Iowa hasn’t even been convicted yet. You can only be pardoned if you were convicted.”

    Here is a direct quote from Wikipedia, “A presidential pardon may be granted at any time, however, and as when Ford pardoned Nixon, the pardoned person need not yet have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime.”

    Before you jump to conclusions learn the facts!

  • to the intelligent lot

    to ‘to menachem wrote’
    the nazis also had a voice of reason..amongst the ghettos in europe…only self hating jews can justify a chossid sitting in jail…wait till they check your finances ..and then we’ll see where all this intelligence will get you.Not very intelligent are you to say what your\’re thinking when a fellow yid is suffering…Go get a life.nebach so sad

  • reb dovid

    This that a man full of chesed is bing sent to prisin for hiering peple to work form ther will it is not his fult and just becuse the agracolter org. is agenst him and peple are jelus of him he shal not be punisht
    may hashem have mirsiy on him and the holl cllal yisrel

  • look in the mirror first

    maybe the Rubashkins did some things they shouldn’t have – did you ever? Do you have a legal cleaning lady & pay her on the books with taxes…. do you & should you be getting foodstamps, medicaid… did you ever take a kid on a flight or into a park & lie about their age? There are so many cases of things that people do that are not as straight as they should be…. I am sure that you – Menachem are a Tzaddik Gamur & that’s y you alone can put down the Rubashkins. No, we are not in a ghetto. We are living in a very down to earth world where everyone makes mistakes but yes – as Yidden we are standing together – most of us B’achdus – to defend a person who is DEFINITELY being persecuted thru anti-semitism. Do a little research (while saying Chitas…) & see other cases of raide for illegals, bank fraud… & see how those companies were treated. Were the CEO’s shackled & led away as if they were murderers? Were they charged for 52 yrs in prison?! Were the families broken apart like Sholom M.’s has been? If all you can fiind is something negative – please go to your mirror & say it about yourself & then keep your nasty comments to yourself. Hashem Yerachem – we need a Yeshuah NOW!!!! AD MOSAI!!!
    & btw – yes – Bush can pardon him if he so wishes – can people start the ball rolling & let everyone know what they can do?
    RUBASHKIN FAMILY – STAND STRONG! WE’RE WITH YOU!

  • to menachem

    There are 20 million illegals in the US. The US economy lived off of this. And the Mexican economy does as well. 500 worked at Agri. Where are the rest of them? Why only Agri? There remians another 20 million (-500).
    Please explain how this is fair.

  • Shlomo

    There is no way you can compare a relatively low level crime like a minor player of Rubashkin’s rank to that of the national quagmire that took place over Nixon’s presidency. It was Gerald Ford’s worst mistake, and he later was unsure he should have done this.

    People are raising Rubashkin to the level of a Rebbe imprisoned, and this false idolizing should stop. Agriprocessors left strong evidence it broke many laws. They were bad apples. Let’s follow what the Rebbe taught. And sinus chium is a silly childish accusation.

    I think it’s many of the narrow minded Lubavitch ghetto dwellers who need a life Don’t blame Menachem- he is telling it like it is, folks.

  • do u only believe the media?

    shlomo – on which facts are you basing your info thatt they broke many laws – the facts from the Forward? The media, the Union & Peta who began this to kill the Rubashkins & “get back @ them?” There’s more to the story then what your eyes see! If somebody today would say “You know Shlomo is having an affair” should we all jump on you or would you like for people to wait until trial – see the true facts & even if you do have a problem – daven for you?!?
    for all those putting down the Rubashkins & their crimes & telling us to “wake up” I hope you’re not in for a rude awakening when someone decides to attack you! Maybe learn some tzeddakah techniques from them & ask mechilla fast by helping them out – yes – they DO NEED $$$! (& no I’m not related just very touched by all the good they’ve done which far outweighs the mistakes which have been made.”

  • MOISHE RABENU

    TELLING IT LIKE IT IS,IS NOT FINE, BECAUSE WE ALL DONT REALLY KNOW ALL THE FACT.WE ARE ALL NOT PERFECT. WE ARE NOT TO JUDGE, LETS LEAVE THAT TO HASHEM YISBARECH WHO DOES ONLY GOOD. PLEASE BROTHERS LETS JUST STAY TOGETHER AND PRAY HARD FOR THE RUBASHKIN’S TO GET THROUGH THIS QUICKLY…MAY HASHEM BLESS US ALL

  • Concerned and Davening

    i think this is just awful, plain and simple. i don’t feel like the truth is being presented here, and i feel terrible for them and their family. may Hashem help.

  • Nobody

    The point about Nixon was an example of a pardon before even an indictment, let alone conviction, not to compare the two.

    Anyone who looks at the facts can’t help but wonder why Rubashkin is being targeted so aggressively for crimes that go completely unpunished and unnoticed so commonly. What he is accused of was the equivalent of hiring a cleaning lady without papers off the books (even less so, because he paid their taxes) and exaggerating your income when applying for a mortgage – just on a larger scale.

    The antisemitism comes from prosecuting a Jew for a crime that a non-Jew would never get arrested for. Google the Dallas Independent School District to see what passes for normal for non-Jews.

    People who take on the language of antisemites (“ghetto dwellers”) should really question if they know how to evaluate antisemitism if they see it.

  • elliyahu

    Again Presdient Bush can pardon him if he so wishes – can people start the ball rolling & let everyone know what they can do?
    RUBASHKIN FAMILY – STAND STRONG! WE’RE WITH YOU!

    PRESIDENT BUSH – READ OUR PLEA – PRESIDENT BUSH –
    PRESIDENT BUSH – READ OUR PLEA – PRESIDENT BUSH –
    PRESIDENT BUSH – READ OUR PLEA – PRESIDENT BUSH –
    PRESIDENT BUSH – READ OUR PLEA – PRESIDENT BUSH –
    PRESIDENT BUSH – READ OUR PLEA – PRESIDENT BUSH –

  • Mosrim in Crown Heights

    The whole crisis of the Rubashkin family is a result of a MOSER from inside the factory. a Jewish guy!!! maybe this is a lesson that everyone in Crown Heights should learn before they threat their neighbours or anyone that they have the smallest misunderstanding that they will call the authorities!!! Unfortunately, people in Crown Heights do not have a problem to call the city on neighbours for small isues not thinking what long term problems they will be facing.

  • zak

    To YankyDoodle

    You mention wikipeida as a source for your facts.

    And I quote “Here is a direct quote from Wikipedia, “A presidential pardon may be granted at any time, however, and as when Ford pardoned Nixon, the pardoned person need not yet have been convicted or even formally charged with a crime.””

    Well here is a interesting fact for you. What you read on wikipedia is hardly factual. Anybody can write anything. For all we know you wrote the “fact”.

    Thats all

  • Fellow Lubavitcher

    I just x get why feellow jews would be speaking bad against Rubashkin, wether hes wrong or right is not your buisness, its your duty as a fellow yid to help a jew in pain! We know hes suffering, why are you pouring salt on an open wound?!?

  • GHEULA

    PLEAS PEOPLE AHAVAS CHINAM… DAVEN FOR THE RUBASHKIN FAMILY THIS IS THE ONLY WAY MOSHIACH WILL COME…
    THE BAIS HAMIKDASHE WASE DESTROIT B-CAUSE SINAS CHINAM….

  • knows betther than that!

    in case it needs to be spelled out for all of you who think this is what he desreves-THIS IS A MODERN DAY BLOOD LIBEL – even if it has a bit of truth to the claims- ITS BEING TAKEN TOO FAR AND HE IS BEING TREATED WORSE THAN A DANGEROUS CRIMINAL!!!!!!
    SAY TEHILLIM AND ENOUGH OF THIS TALK!!!

  • Reuven

    Here is the plan to pardon Rubashkin:

    Levi Shemtovv and Chanina Sperlin must get together and see Karl Rove and President Bush before January 20. Shemtovv is the Bush house rabbi and leader in Washington for lubavitchers and Sperlin is the political leader of all Anash. WIth enough Tehillim, they can get it done!!

  • Not Lubavitch but saying Tehillim

    This whole episode is a big Chilul Hashem.

    May it be Hashem’s will that whatever correction must take place can be done with no further suffering on anyone’s part, yidden or goy.

  • something smells

    There are a few things that seem abnormal:

    1. Everyone writes how they found passports with the cash in his room. What they fail to mention is that he and his wife had allready given up their passports to the feds.

    2. The officers who searched his home and found the money, never actually counted it, they flipped through it and estimated how much there was. When the family counted it afterward, there was actually $12,000 – far from enough to run anywhere without a passport and with a family.

    3. The silver coins found, were the ones used for machtzis hashekel every year in Postville.

    4. His wife can only visit him once a week and even then cannot meet him face to face – only via video. Don’t forget he was never found guilty of anything, supposedly the only reason he is in prison is ascertain that he will not flee, so why the harsh treatment?!

  • WAKE UP .>>> YOUR NEXT!!!

    IF WE WILL QUIET, BEFORE YOU KNOW IT THEY WILL ROUND UP, MANY ORTHDOX JEWS,THEN YOU WILL WRITE YOUR COMMENTS FROMM JAIL, YOU SELFFISH STUPET JEWS ,WE NEED AHAVAS CHINUM, THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL!!!!

    THEY ARE WAITING TO SEE IF THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH RUBASHKIND!!!

  • sarah

    Here’s an editorial in the Dallas News about their public school district administration handing out “temporary” social security numbers to new hires.

    http://www.dallasnews.com/s

    Whether or not he is guilty of the things he is accused of, the double standard is blatantly obvious. He is being treated as if he is a serial killer, not someone who broke immigration laws and hid money in bank accounts so he could borrow more money. He may have operated his company using an old-world mentality,and broke federal laws, but he is not a danger to society. Yet he is shackled in chains and sitting in a cell that appears to be in a very high-security jail (he can’t meet his wife?)

    There’s definitely a bigger picture going on here and we don’t know what it is. All we can do is daven.

    May the zechusim of the incredible Mitzvos they have done bear witness in the beis din shelmaalah and may hashem send them a yeshuah bekorov mamosh!

  • chitas

    Rubashkin is only a test case, if the enemies of the Yidden succeed, it will open up the floodgates to come and get the rest of us. BEWARE!!!!

  • gosholom!

    sholom is a very nice man who has helped numerous people in dozens of ways..may hashem help him with everything and moshiach now

  • a high school girl of Bais Rivka HS

    we are at the threshhold of geula ,this is part of the birth pangs of gulus.
    our job is to do all we can to bring the geula now!!!!!!!1