WATERLOO — Former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin has been acquitted of allowing minors to work at the Postville slaughterhouse. The jury indicated they had reached a verdict shortly before 1 p.m. Monday.
Video Report – Rubashkin Not Guilty in Child Labor Case
WATERLOO — Former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin has been acquitted of allowing minors to work at the Postville slaughterhouse. The jury indicated they had reached a verdict shortly before 1 p.m. Monday.
Jurors acquitted him of all 67 counts of child labor violations.
Rubashkin is awaiting sentencing on federal bank fraud charges in connection with loans Agriprocessors received. Federal immigration charges stemming from the May 2008 raid at the plant were dropped earlier.
State labor officials began investigating information that minors worked at the plant in the months before the May 2008 immigration raid.
Prosecutors said Rubashkin, who was described at the CEO and co-VP of the company, knew underage workers held jobs at the facility and did nothing to remove them or change hiring practices.
Twenty-six former Agriprocessors employees from Guatemala and Mexico testified they had worked at the plant as teenagers. The state said they worked with dangerous chemicals and some tended power-driven equipment like conveyor belts.
The defense argued Rubashkin didn’t want minors working at Agriprocessors and noted that underage employees had been fired when they were discovered in 2007. They allege labor investigators didn’t give them the names of suspected youths so they could be fired.
Statement of the Attorney General’s Office – June 7, 2010:
“The jury reached a verdict early Monday afternoon to acquit former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin.
We alleged that Sholom Rubashkin was on notice repeatedly and that he knew — from his own management staff, from child labor investigators, and from his own eyes — that there were scores of children working on the floor of the slaughterhouse, and we alleged Rubashkin ignored his obligation to do something about it.
But the jury found reasonable doubt. We respect the process, and the jury has the final say. We commend the jury for their five weeks of attention during the trial, and for their 12 hours of deliberation.
We will continue every effort to enforce the child labor laws of the State of Iowa.”
i sing prais
i listened again and again to the songs of bitochin on the new cd that came out called redemtion thAT is dedicated to sholom mordechai and i kept asking hashem and the rebbe to send sholom moerdche his geuleh from his personel goles.
now i am still listening and sing thank yous and prais to the ribonoy shel oilom for giving sholom mordeche a “didan nutach” as mr. rivkin sings in the last song of his record.
please oibishter send sholom mordeche a full nitzochen!!!!
m-geulah legeulah
The disappointment of the news cast is so obvious it’s just sickening oh well at least they could mention that he was found guilty on 83 federal accounts….and that’s exactly what the feds wanted to do …make him sound like this terrible monster hesyatvoo ureoo es yeshuas hashem
boruch hashem
the lord of israel does not slumber and does not sleep and he will be acquitted of the other charges and be set free.
DIDAN NOTZACH!
I TOO WAS DISGUSTED LISTENING TO THE UTTER DISSAPPOINTMENT IN THE VOICE OF THE REPORTER (A JEW) AS HE DESCRIBED RUBASHKIN’S NOT GUILTY VERDICT. HOWEVER, I WILL NOT DWELL ON THIS SELF HATING JEW (ALTHOUGH I FEEL SORRY FOR HIM) AND INSTEAD CONCENTRATE ON DAVENING TO HASHEM FOR SHOLOM MORDECHAI HALEVI’S COMPLETE REDEMPTION! DIDAN NOTZACH!
thankful to Hashem
they were one step away from saying – ‘hey hes a criminal – hes forsure guilty – but somehow the jury got it wrong!!’
unbiased reporting? no such thing! sickening
but BH for the verdict..may the good news continue…