Postville, IA – A 43-year-old man who worked as a poultry line supervisor at Agriprocessors prior to the massive May 2008 immigration raid was sentenced on immigration-related charges.
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Martin De La Rosa-Loera, of Postville, received the prison term after pleading guilty Aug. 27 to one count of aiding and abetting the harboring of undocumented aliens.
According to court information, De La Rosa-Loera entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 1997, and began working at Agriprocessors prior to becoming a lawful resident in 2002. He had since become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
De La Rosa-Loera supervised roughly 70 poultry employees at Agriprocessors, according to court records. In early May 2007, he told his workers that they would need to change their social security numbers and names to continue working in the plant. The changes also came with the employees reverting back to “starting wages” of $6.25 per hour. After his announcement, more than 100 poultry workers staged a walk-out in protest.
Court documents also indicate that De La Rosa-Loera received a list of several employees in late April 2008. Those listed were to be fired from Agriprocesors. Despite supervisors knowing the employees had problems with their social security numbers, De La Rosa-Loera’s supervisor told him six of the most valuable workers could continue employment if they produced new identification documents.
De La Rosa-Loera, according to prosecutors, directed another member of the poultry department under his supervision to obtain new identification documents, and then instructed the employee to tell five additional workers to do the same. Although the human resources director later determined the employees’ new documents “were not right,” the six employees were allowed to continue working at Agriprocessors under their old documents.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade sentenced De La Rosa-Loera to 23 months imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and he must also serve a two-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Reade increased his sentence due to his supervisory role in the offense and the harboring of 100 or more illegal aliens.
De La Rosa-Loera is being held in the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Office until he can be transported to a federal prison. The investigation into illegal activities at the Agriprocessors plant in Postville began in October 2007. The raid, in which 389 workers were detained, was staged on May 12.
Several members of management, including day-to-day chief executive Sholom M. Rubashkin, face a myraid of criminal charges ranging from bank fraud to immigration-related offenses. The investigation continues.
The Agriprocessors plant, a kosher meatpacking facility, continues limited operations under the supervision of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee. A sale has been set for March 23, although no major buyer has yet to publicly step forward.
I can’t see how this guilty plea helps SMR. Obviously this Martin De La Whatever fella had counsel who reviewed the case against him and reccommended this plea. At the very least makes you wonder what the evidence against SMR looks like.
If Shalom Rubashkin was offered the same deal, I’m sure he would accept it. The prosecution is refusing to make an offer though.
This man does not sound like a frumme yid so what does his conviction have to do with Reb Shalom, Z’l. I doubt the hielege rav knew anything about what was going on with the hiring decisions for the illegal shochtim.
#5 and #6
Agri was not a mom and pop shop with 5 employees where the boss knows everything, authority was delegated down the line
WHY WAS ANYONE SUPPRISED AT THIS?
He knew he did bad, the feds offered him a deal and he took it. On the other hand, milhouse is in denial that Sholom did anything wrong and a Lubavitch cannot be a gazlan. Impossible.
When will we wake up and realize that we are responsible for our sins??