New trial for Rubashkin denied

A motion for a new trial for former slaughterhouse executive Sholom Rubashkin was denied.

Federal Chief Judge Linda Reade on Wednesday denied a motion requesting a new trial for the former Agriprocessors vice president. The motion requested a new trial after accusing Reade, the presiding judge in the case, of a conflict of interest and claimed that she should have recused herself.

According to emergency court papers filed Aug. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, District Court Chief Judge Linda Reade was involved in preparations for the May 2008 raid on the Agriprocessors kosher meat plant in Postville, Iowa. The raid led to Rubashkin’s arrest on an array of charges, including the financial fraud for which he was ultimately convicted.

Reade sentenced Rubashkin to 27 years in federal prison last June -- two more years than prosecutors demanded.

Rubashkin was convicted in November 2009 on 86 counts of fraud in connection with the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa.

The Agriprocessors plant was the site of a federal immigration raid in May 2008 in which 389 illegal immigrants, including 31 children, were arrested.

Meanwhile, Rubashkin's son Mendel celebrated his bar mitzvah earlier this month at an event attended by hundreds of guests at the Chabad Center of New City in Monsey, N.Y.

Rubashkin addressed the guests via cell phone from the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, NY, Chabad.org reported.

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/10/28/2741477/new-trial-for-rubashkin-denied