Material witnesses in the Agriprocessors case will not be released

The 20 undocumented former Agriprocessors workers designated as material witnesses for criminal cases will not be released as the government thought last month.

The government filed a motion releasing the immigrants, who likely would have been deported, but a former Agriprocessors supervisor Brent Beebe, filed a motion asking the court to not release them until after his immigration and document fraud trial set for Jan. 19.

Beebe's attorney Ray Scheetz intends to call seven to eight of the material witnesses for the defense, according to his motion. None of the witnesses are in custody at this time and none object to remaining in the United States pending the trial.

U.S. Magistrate Jon Scoles granted the defense's motion today.