Former Agriprocessors Supervisor Wants Credit For Israeli House Arrest When Sentenced

Hosam Amara – the former Agriprocessors supervisor who fled to Israel in 2008 to escape arrest at the encouragement of and with the help of Agriprocessors VP Sholom Rubashkin in the days following the 2008 immigration raid on the glatt koser slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa – has asked a federal court in Iowa to give him credit for time he spent on house arrest and in jail in Israel.

Hosam Amara

Former Agriprocessors Supervisor Wants Credit For Israeli House Arrest When Sentenced
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Hosam Amara, the former Agriprocessors supervisor who fled to Israel in 2008 to escape arrest at the encouragement of and with the help of Agriprocessors VP Sholom Rubashkin in the days following the 2008 immigration raid on the glatt koser slaughterhouse in Postville, Iowa, has asked a federal court in Iowa to give him credit for time he spent on house arrest and in jail in Israel.

Amara’s attorneys told the court Amara was in an Israeli jail for 74 days and spent another 21 months under house arrest as he was fighting extradition to the US to face charges, including harboring illegal aliens for profit, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.

Prosecutors are reportedly asking for a 6 1/2 year sentence because Amara not only harbored these undocumented workers for profit, he also allegedly exploited them and in some cases, sexually abused them, along with fleeing the country to avoid arrest and to avoid testifying against Sholom Rubashkin and others.

Amara, an Israeli Arab, was reportedly arrested by Israeli police on March 31, 2011. He had been living in his home village of Kfar Kana (also spelled Kfar Qana) since fleeing the US in spring 2008 but Israeli police apparently failed to find him there – even though he was living openly in his family’s expensive multi-story villa with his wife and children.

Amara’s Israeli attorney Rafi Masalha claimed Amara’s house arrest was excessively harsh and “punished [Amara] severely.” Amara was forbidden to leave his home for medical treatment, Masalha claimed, noting that this adversely effected Amara’s health.

Amara’s attorneys also filed a letter from a former Agriprocessors employee in support of Amara.

“He showed respect for me and other women and never raised his voice.…I never saw him molest anyone or touch anyone inappropriately. I never heard him ask for sexual favors, let alone saw him have sex during working hours, since everyone was busy with work and there are no private places anywhere in Agri,” Maria Melika wrote in a letter translated from Russian to English for the court.

On March 13, 2013, the Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled that Amara could be extradited. He arrived in the U.S. in May.

Amara pleaded guilty in late August to one count of conspiring to harbor undocumented immigrants for profit.

His sentencing is scheduled to begin Thursday and could last as long as three days.

Related:

All Hosam Amara Posts.

Comments

[state of disgust]

"Amara pleaded guilty in late August to one count of conspiring to harbor undocumented immigrants for profit."

Pleaded guilty to one count - what a joke. These are Federal charges. I wonder if the State will go after him.

As for time served in Israel, he fled the US to avoid prosecution and then asks for credit for time served while waiting extradition? Someone should explain to him the term "chutzpah."