Rubashkin Supporters Crowd Courtroom

Scores of Chabad-Lubavitch Jews crowded into the Sioux Falls courthouse with psalm books and whispered prayers, to stand by Sholom Rubashkin. "Everyone who knows him, knows him as a great man," said Eli Ezer Pinson, 21, who joined a 24-hour bus ride from Brooklyn to show his support. "People look up to him."

Supporters of meat plant exec crowd courtroom
By Grant Schulte, USA TODAY

Sioux Falls, S.D — Supporters of the top executive of a meat packing plant that was the scene of the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history flooded a South Dakota federal courthouse today to pray for the man they described as generous and warm-hearted.

Scores of Chabad-Lubavitch Jews crowded into the Sioux Falls courthouse with psalm books and whispered prayers, to stand by Sholom Rubashkin, the ousted top executive at Agriprocessors, Inc.

"Everyone who knows him, knows him as a great man," said Eli Ezer Pinson, 21, who joined a 24-hour bus ride from Brooklyn to show his support. "People look up to him. He always made time for everyone."

Today marks the first day of a federal fraud trial expected to last four to six weeks. Rubashkin faces 91 charges — bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and others — in the first of two trials.

The second trial on 72 immigration-related charges will start one week after the first trial ends. Rubashkin has pleaded not guilty.

Agriprocessors was the site of a May 2008 immigration raid that gutted the workforce and pushed the kosher meat plant into bankruptcy. Prosecutors also alleged that Rubashkin cheated the plant's lender with false financial papers, so he could obtain advances on a $35 million loan.

More than 40 young men, most in their 20s, huddled around a big-screen television in a spillover room to watch the proceeding on a live feed. Some recited psalms in Hebrew. A black fedora, filled with crinkled dollar bills, passed from hand to hand.

Sholom Rubashkin sat quietly with his lawyers, his wife Leah and 10 children behind him. His oldest daughter, Roza, wandered the halls cradling an infant.

Shortly before 11 a.m., Leah Rubashkin wandered into the downstairs room filled with supporters. She smiled, waved, and said, "I wanted to see how everyone was doing."

Day one began with prosecutors and defense lawyers weeding through a pool of 60 potential jurors. The trial, expected to last four to six weeks, was moved from Cedar Rapids to Sioux Falls because of pre-trial publicity. Opening arguments in the case could begin as early as this afternoon.

Assistant U.S. Attorney C.J. Williams named about 80 witnesses that prosecutors might call for their case.

Included on the list was Elizabeth Billmeyer, who worked as the plant's human resources director; Toby Bensassion, a former comptroller; and two mid-level managers, Juan Carlos Guerrero Espinoza and Martin De La Rosa. All pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the build-up to the trial.

Defense lawyer Guy Cook said his team might call Joe Sarachek, the plant's bankruptcy trustee; Ron Wahls, a school guidance counselor; and former Agriprocessors spokesman Chaim Abraham.

Lawyers had whittled the jury pool to about 50 as of noon. Jury selection will continue this afternoon.

Schulte reports for the Des Moines Register.

Comments

[krewz]

I wish I was there to show my support for this man! Sholom Rubashkin has always shown my family kindness and I want to repay him by standing by him through these hard times.

[FirstGenerationBavarianAmerican]

The Argus-Leader (also Gannett-owned, as is USA Today and the Des Moines Register) also just posted this story, along with a photo taken by a Argus-Leader photographer of the defendant entering the courtroom:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?template=zoom&Site=D2&Date=20091013&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=91013016&Ref=AR&Profile=1001

[FirstGenerationBavarianAmerican]

http://www.argusleader.com/article/20091013/UPDATES/91013042

and I have to split this up:

http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?template=zoom&Site=DF

&Date=20091013&Category=UPDATES&ArtNo=91013042&Ref=AR

[effie]

They won't be able to pack the court for 4-6 weeks. I thought they were all showing up in anticipation of a plea bargain but it looks like a no go.

[Shmarya]

They'll send people from Postville, from, Saint Paul, from Chicago, etc.

They can easily have people there every day.

If a plea deal is made, it will likely happen on the day the actual trial starts.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

but what happened to suing the feds?

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

Last we saw Roza...she was on this page shnorring to pay for the Defense. Perhaps it was really to pay the travel expenses of the family, or does that come from the personal fortune?

[formerpostvillian]

We all make mistakes and we all have to pay the price, but I hope some mercy is shown.

Although I am afraid crimes were committed and justice must be served, I do not believe Sholom ever knew the seriousness or repercussions of his actions.

We have all looked down at the speedometer and realized we were unintentionally braking the law. While his crime is much more serious and premeditated, I do not believe Sholom ever intended anyone harm, it's just not his nature.

But based off of the pictures and video's of him leaving the courthouse, he may still not be getting the seriousness of his actions. I would be humbled and very, very nervous. He seems happy, unconcerned, and enjoying the attention.

Too much belief in prayer and miracles can lead to a unrealistic view of the world HaShem allowed us to create. If HaShem commanded we make governments and courts of law, why should we expect his devine intervention when we brake those laws? Perhaps that effort would be better spent on asking the judge for mercy!