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Rubashkin To Be Sentenced To 27 Years In Financial Fraud Case

By Howard M. Friedman

Yesterday Iowa federal district judge Linda Reade released a 52-page Sentencing Memorandum in the case of United States v. Rubashkin. In it she concludes that at the hearing scheduled for today she will impose a sentence of 27 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, on Sholom Rubashkin who was convicted on 86 counts of financial fraud. Rubashkin, former vice president of the kosher meat processing firm Agriprocesors in Postville, Iowa, will also be ordered to pay restitution totalling $26.85 million to two banks and a livestock supplier. The sentence imposed is at the low end of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines range for the crime and offender characteristics involved as computed by the court, but is two years more than the prosecution requested. (See prior posting).

The court rejected a number of arguments for a downward departure in sentencing, including that "Defendant did not commit the offense conduct for personal gain or out of a sense of greed, but rather, 'in order to continue what he viewed as the critical Lubavitch mission of providing Kosher food to the Jewish community.'" It also rejected government arguments for an upward departure, but said it reserved the right to consider an upward departure if it is required to re-sentence Rubashkin. Despite this threat, according to the New York Times Rubashkin will appeal the decision to challenge the court's interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines. Rubashkin supporters have conducted an extensive campaign on Rubashkin's behalf, arguing that he has been unfairly treated. (See prior posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on June 22, 2010 (boomark / email).