Court of Appeals upholds bank fraud conviction of former Agriprocessors manager

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld  the conviction of former Agriprocessors manager Sholom Rubashkin who was convicted in 2009 of bank fraud and is serving a 27 years in federal prison.

The ruling stated there was no evidence of bias and prejudice in rulings and statements by U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade toward Rubashkin and his sentencing wasn't unreasonable, as argued in his appeal.

Guy Cook, Rubashkin's trial attorney, said today the opinion ignores obvious flaws in the prosecution, trial and sentencing.

"This is not justice by any measure," Cook, of Des Moines, said. "An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to review this case is certain. The length of sentence alone, greater than the government asked for, essentially a life sentence for a first time, non-violent offense demands review."

Rubashkin, 51, of Postville, was convicted in November 2009 by a jury of 86 counts of bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, money laundering and failure to pay livestock providers in a timely manner. The charges stem from the May 2008 immigration raid at the former Postville meatpacking plant where nearly 400 illegal workers were charged.

Rubashkin was sentenced in 2010 to 27 years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of more than $26 million.

Rubashkin argued for a new trial in his appeal based on new evidence obtained through Freedom of Information documents which he claimed would prove Reade wasn't impartial and should have recused herself. Rubashkin argued the documents revealed Reade was involved in the planning of the raid at Agriprocessors, which led to Rubashkin's charges.

The court ruled Rubashkin didn't raise his arguments for recusal in a timely manner. The information that Reade had met with Immigration Customs and Enforcement and prosecutors before the raid came out earlier during another hearing for a defendant also charged in this case. Rubashkin didn't argue for recusal until appeal, which must meet a "rigorous standard" that wasn't met, the court stated.

The FOI documents obtained by Rubashkin included emails and reports of meetings related to where to handle the anticipated arrests for immigration violations, according to the ruling. The documents appeared to be internal memos and unedited notes taken by ICE agents, rather than quotes from the meeting.

Reade met with ICE and prosecutors before the raid to discuss the need for judges, interpreters, defense counsel, detention facilities to handle hundreds of expected arrests and the arrangements for setting up temporary court offices. There was no indication in the minutes that the meetings with Reade concerned any other type of prosecution.

A few months before the raid, the court requested a briefing on how the operation would be conducted, according to the ruling. There was also a slide presentation from ICE that mentioned previous enforcement actions against Agriprocessors relating to environmental, agricultural and safety matters.

"It is unclear if the district court ever viewed those slides," the ruling stated. "There is no indication that the district court ever saw any of the ICE emails or minutes or had any opportunity to edit them."

The court concluded Reade's rulings and statements to the jury were not bias or prejudice toward Rubashkin. Rubashkin's offered no reason to believe the jury would have reached a different verdict under a different presiding judge.

Rubashkin also argued the 27 years was unreasonable given his age, nonviolence, lack of criminal history, unlikelihood of recidivism, family obligations, and the principal motives for his acts.

"Not only was Rubashkin's sentence of 324 months within the guideline range, it was at the low end of it," according to the ruling.