Former manager of Iowa kosher meatpacking plant seeks dismissal of 20 counts
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The attorney for Sholom Rubashkin is asking the court to dismiss 20 counts against the former Postville meatpacking plant manager.Rubashkin is named in a 79-count indictment, charging him with federal immigration, bank fraud and money laundering charges. He also named in 20 counts of willful violation of order of the secretary of agriculture. The charge can be filed if a meatpacker fails to pay for livestock on a timely basis, as required by law.
Rubashkin's attorney, Guy Cook, filed a motion on Tuesday to dismiss those counts, arguing that the federal statute is constitutionally defective and subjects Rubashkin to cruel and unusual punishment.
The charges are the result of an investigation that began in 2007 and has continued since the May 12, 2008, immigration raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant.