Postville, IA – Attorneys for Agriprocessors Inc. and its former vice president argued in U.S. District Court that a 142-count indictment be split into two trials because all the allegations did not arise from the same act.
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F. Montgomery Brown, attorney for Sholom Rubashkin, the former vice president, said Rubashkin did not willfully employ illegal immigrants at the kosher meatpacking plant in Postville and believes he would be acquitted if he were allowed to testify on counts 1-72, which allege immigration violations. Brown did not provide further information on that potential testimony.
Brown said Rubashkin would not be allowed to tell his side of the story if the counts were not severed because he would have to agree to testify during trial of all of the other charges.
The government argued for one trial, saying the counts are connected because they are part of a conspiracy.
Chief Judge Linda Reade will release a written ruling later on the motion requesting counts 1 through 74 be separated from counts 75 through 142.
Counts 1-74 charge immigration and document fraud, and counts 75-142 allege bank fraud, money laundering and non-payment for livestock.
Many of the charges stem from the federal immigration raid in May 2008 at the plant.
Brown described the 142 counts as a “four-act opera” — immigration, bank fraud, money laundering and non-payment for livestock. There’s no common scheme for all the charges, he said.
“To prove the financial crime, would they (government) have to call former Hispanic workers? No,” Brown said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney C.J. Williams said the counts are connected. For example, the immigration violations involve the banking scheme, he said. The illegal immigrants were placed on separate payrolls to make it appear that they weren’t Agriprocessors’ employees, he said.
Williams said it would be more efficient to try all 142 counts as one case because of the overlap in witnesses and information.
It is the defendant’s burden to show that his testimony is essential for the trial, Williams said, and he hasn’t shared “his story,” so the court cannot determine the impact of his potential testimony.
Vy not have a separate trial for each count of the indictment and drag this out until moishiach comes and issues the definitive posek. This shanda needs to come to closure quickly and fairly or it will make the “OJ Trial” look like an efficient judicial proceeding.