Posted on 04/21/2010 5:40:54 AM PDT by SJackson
Yes, we Jews unfortunately have our criminals. Yes, we Orthodox Jews unfortunately have our felons. We’re human, too.
At middle age I have come to accept my limitations. Although I like to have an opinion on almost everything, I am conscious of the fact that I am not a legal scholar and do not understand all the complexities of the criminal case against Sholom Rubashkin, former CEO of America’s largest kosher meat plant, Agriprocessors of Postville, Iowa.
But I am not a stupid man either. And I and a heck of a lot of other fairly intelligent and educated people are scratching our heads as to why government prosecutors are requesting that Rubashkin, who has 10 children, including an autistic son, and a reputation for enormous philanthropy, be given a life sentence in prison.
Life behind bars – the very words are ominous. Isn’t that reserved for society’s most heinous offenders? A life sentence has one conjuring images of rapists and murderers, international drug cartel kingpins and white-collar criminals guilty of gargantuan fraud, like Bernard Madoff.
What did Rubashkin do? After an INS raid on the plant that found hundreds of illegal immigrants, the company was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy and Rubashkin, who had already been arrested for employing illegals, was subsequently found guilty of defrauding a bank and producing false invoices to keep the business going. There is no insinuation that he did any of this for personal profit or gain. Unlike Madoff, he had no Hamptons estate, no fancy yacht and no Manhattan penthouse. By all accounts he and his family lived in incredibly modest circumstances.
Obviously, the Rubashkin story has been an enormous embarrassment to the American Jewish community in general and Orthodoxy in particular. The largest kosher meat plant in the country employing hundreds of illegal immigrants? Engaging in bank fraud to remain a going concern? Falsifying invoices and misleading lenders? These are serious charges that go against both terrestrial and celestial law and constitute actions that neither man nor God can condone. The expected flight of Jewish leaders and spokespeople from Rubashkin’s side ensued, whatever the injustice of his proposed sentence. We Jews are accustomed to run from scandal like the plague.
SO LET’S remove the smoke from this unsavory story and focus on truth.
Yes, we Jews unfortunately have our criminals. Yes, we Orthodox Jews unfortunately have our felons. We’re human, too. We have people guilty of serious wrongdoing. And we too must confess our sins, repent of our actions, are punished for our crimes and teach our children to always do better and never excuse our behavior.
Our community needs to know that no matter how important you believe it is for other Jews to eat kosher, you cannot purchase that mitzva at any price. You cannot be a good Jew if you are not an honest person. A religious obligation that comes through theft – even when the intention is to simply keep a business open so you can eventually pay off your loans – subverts all principles of religious morality.
Rubashkin is no hero. Whatever the nobility of his intentions, he is a poor example to religious youth. He has been found guilty of a crime and he must do the time.
But he is no monster either. Unlike Wall Street bankers, he did not bet the farm and other people’s deposits to buy himself a Ferrari. Unlike AIG executives, he did not cost the government billions in bailouts and then get a bonus. And while I, of course, understand that criminal conduct is infinitely more serious, so is prosecutorial overzealousness that borders on fanaticism.
The time that Rubashkin serves must be fair and just. This is America. Just as there is no room for toleration of criminal conduct, there is also no room for a lynch mob mentality. I realize I am not a lawyer. But I have enough sense to understand that a punishment of a few years in prison sets an unassailable example that criminal conduct is utterly inexcusable. Anything more than that for a crime of this nature gives the false impression that the American justice system is prejudicial and untrustworthy.
As for the outcry from the hassidic community that Rubashkin is being treated unfairly and that his yarmulke and beard make for a prosecutorial bull’s-eye, I love America too much to believe any of it. This is the fairest, most decent country on Earth. But I do believe it possible that when an overtly religious person perpetrates a crime – especially one that involves companies catering to religious needs – there is a feeling on the part of many that the hypocrisy mandates an even harsher sentence.
So let’s be clear.
This is not in any way analogous to other ugly religious stories dominating the news like pedophile priests. There is no suggestion that Rubashkin’s crimes be covered up. Less so is there any insinuation that Rubashkin be moved to another state where he can start up a new kosher meat plant. Rubashkin’s trustworthiness in the American Jewish community is finished.
But there is an insistence that he be treated like a human being. That it be taken into consideration that he has no prior offenses and that his company provided kosher meat to hundreds of thousands of people at affordable prices so that more Jews could observe their faith. That he and his family are legendary in the hassidic community for their charitable giving, their hospitality and their communal involvement. That Rubashkin himself devoted a substantial portion of his profits to funding a soup kitchen and supporting organizations like Kollel Chabad that feed the hungry and the poor. To disregard all these considerations when it comes to sentencing is to disregard the universal belief that the good we do is not cancelled out by our horrendous mistakes.
I know my own limitations. Perhaps Rubashkin’s prosecutors ought to know theirs.
Hmmm. I couldn’t find an article that had them calling for life...just ones giving fixed sentences up to 20-something.
You don't believe he did the things he was convicted of? You don't believe he knowingly hired illegals? You don't believe he participated in falsifying their documents?
This article is a tissue of lies as are many of the comments on this thread. There is nothing charitable about Rubashkin or his company. The man illegally robbed and abused those outside of his tribe for the material benefit of himself and others within his tribe. All the rest is obfuscation.
That’s a good point. It’s also important to note that this case involved convictions on 86 separate counts. I would think there would be a lot of prison time in a case like that — almost by necessity.
http://agri.unionactive.com/index.cfm?zone=view_page.cfm&page=Food20Safety201
Probably not the best source...it was the first one listed of several thousand that the search turned up.
“I have a hard time being sympathic, sorry. “
No need to apologize nor is there any need for sympathy.
IMHO, as long as the punishment is more or less what was handed out for others in similar situations, I have no opinion on the matter. If, in similar situations, the perpetrator was as charitable and that was taken into account in sentencing, it should be done so here. If not, then it shouldn’t.
Fairness is what I want for everyone. There should be no reason to cast aspersions on anyone in our judicial system/process. If there are people who are casting aspersions without proper foundation, then they should be thoroughly discredited.
Here is the article that I saw:
I believe that there were illegal aliens working there; nearly 400 were arrested in the raid. I don’t know how involved Rubashkin himself was in their hiring, since this never came to trial and the judge herself elided between hiring illegals and conspiring to do so (which could involve setting the conditions that make it possible to do so).
I believe he was involved in falsifying the bring-down certificates by falsifying accounts receivable.
My belief is irrelevant, though. The point of this specific post was that he made a judgment to contest the charges, but I am sure never expected the prosecutors to seek a lifetime in prison upon his being found guilty.
Moreover, my basic point is that the sentence is grossly disproportionate. He was convicted of bank fraud based on falsely certifying that the company had not violated the law when it had. The company should have been prosecuted for hiring illegal aliens and the bank should have sued him for making up false financial statements. It is not justified to send him to jail for the rest of his life based on the company having been in violation of the law when he certified to his bank that the company was in compliance with the law.
I am appalled by the sentence, not the conviction.
All of the counts were based on a statement in the company’s compliance certificates to the bank that it was not in violation of the law. Every certificate became a separate offense; every law that it was alleged to have violated became a separate offense; sending the certificates by fax became a separate offense; sending the certificates by courier (the order does not say US mail service) became a separate offense.
The number of counts often is used to make the reader believe that the conviction was based on far more violations than actually occurred.
Life sentences in white-collar cases are rare but growing more common, said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor who has followed the Rubashkin case. "I don't want to say it's common - because it's not - but in the last few years it hasn't been unknown," Henning said.
At face value, it appears a life sentence prosecutorial request is (barely) within the bounds of current legal action...an outlier but not unprecedented. It certainly looks like the butcher made an awful decision not to take the plea deal he was offered.
I will look for something not produced by the union that wanted to take down this non-union shop. If you have one and wouldn’t mind posting a link to it I would be grateful. Later today I’ll try and find one myself.
Here are some other cases:
(a) Swift & Co. - Although Swift was a major employer of illegal workers in six states and 1,297 illegal employees were found on those premises in the December 2006 raids, neither the company nor any of its officials were criminally charged. In Iowa, for example, one United Food and Commercial Workers (”UFCW”) official at Swift’s Marshalltown, Iowa, plant was charged in an Iowa federal court with harboring illegal immigrants and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and a $2000 fine after being found guilty by a jury. Another Swift employee who had pleaded guilty was sentenced to probation.
(b) Michael Bianco, Inc. (”MBI”) - A manufacturer of leather goods and handbags in New Bedford, Mass. was raided by ICE on March 6, 2007, after an undercover operation from which it was learned that Francesco Insolia, the owner, intentionally sought out illegal immigrants and exploited them with punitive fines and terrible working conditions. Approximately 326 illegal workers were detained in the raid. Insolia was sentenced in January 2009 to one year and one day in prison and fined $30,000. The company was fined $1.51 million and ordered to pay $460,000 in restitution.
(c) Action Rags USA - A Houston, Texas clothing and rag exporter company was raided by ICE on June 25, 2008 - little more than a month after the Agri raid. Approximately 85% of the business’ workforce consisted of illegal Mexican immigrants, and approximately 150 immigrants were arrested. The owner, Mubarik Kahlon, and two managers were indicted on immigration charges in July 2008. A jury trial was set for June 15, 2009, but on June 10, Kahlon and one manager pleaded guilty. Kahlon was sentenced to two years’ probation and a $6,000 fine.
(d) Miyako Sushi and Panda China Buffets - ICE raided these restaurants in Ocean City, Maryland in June 2007, on evidence that illegal workers were hired as below-minimum-wage employees (paid in cash) in the restaurants and were provided living accommodations in condominiums owned by the restaurant owners, Bo Hao Zhu and Siu Ping Cheng. The owners pleaded guilty to immigration-law violations and were sentenced on September 12, 2008, to 18 months’ probation. Their partnership was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine.
(e) Rosenbaum-Cunningham International, Inc. (”RCI”) - On February 22, 2007, ICE raided 63 locations in 17 states of a national janitorial service that provided cleaning crews for restaurants. Almost all RCI janitorial employees were illegal immigrants who had no documentation whatever, and they were paid in cash. The owners, Richard M. Rosenbaum, Edward Scott Cunningham, and Christina A. Flocken were charged not only with immigration-law violations, but also with defrauding the United States of more than $18 million in federal employment taxes. On March 4, 2008, Rosenbaum was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, Cunningham to 51 months, and Flocken to 30 months.
The cases described above are typical. No case following an ICE raid has even come remotely close to the draconian threats and punishments imposed on Rubashkin.
“Nobody is arguing that Rabbi Rubashkin was innocent. The issue is over the sentence that the prosecutors are seeking. A life sentence is outrageously disproportionate.”
I agree with you that the sentence is disproportionate. Really! Read item #2 in my posting.
You could easily run your own search and get the info, but changing sources will not change the facts and the fines and citations are all a matter of public record and they can be easily searched.
I couldn't care less about the fraud, but the illegal workers, child labor and health violations I take seriously.
By all means, dig deep (have a barf bag ready) and get to the bottom of it.
Life for this crime is exceedingly excessive.
As you say today they use a shotgun approach, a flurry of charges all rooted in one action. Then they try to negotiate a plea bargain, and failing to get the bargain the prosecutor wants -- which is a standard that is highly arbitrary, corrupting, and depends on whim, avarice, pride, cussedness, prejudice, the randomness of budget constraints, bias, etc. -- they try to overwhelm the jury with 'the seriousness of the number' of charges.
And within charges, they will backstop a harsher sentence charge with a slightly less harsh medium charge and a throwaway lesser charge, thus hoping by choice of the middle to get the conviction on a still harsh charge.
The Judge will then direct the jury that they must not consider the charges interdependent, but find on each one as if it was the only charge made. That makes conviction rates high, which is the main and nigh only metric prosecutors are judged on for their own promotion and advancement.
If the price was right, yes.
I agree with the previous poster. It sounds like this guy is trying to have it both ways. He fought the charges and went to trial in an attempt to get off completely . . . but now that he’s been convicted he wants to be sentenced as if he had cut a plea deal with the prosecution.
Relatives of a rabbi accused of misappropriating $700,000 in federal funds two years ago have contributed more than $20,000 to the mayoral campaign of Rep. Anthony Weiner. Campaign filings show that Menachim Balkany, principal of Krasna Yeshiva, Brooklyn — son of Rabbi Milton Balkany — gave Weiner $4,500 on July 1, 2004. Two other Balkanys, Levi and Sarah, chipped in $4,000 apiece this month. That was near the $4,950 maximum allowed per individual under the city's campaign finance rules.
Rabbi Balkany, principal of Bais Yaakov day school, rounded up so much money for politicians in the 1990s that the good-government group Common Cause labeled him "the Brooklyn bundler." Politicians began steering clear of the rabbi after prosecutors in 2003 charged him with diverting $700,000 in federal funds to pay administrative expenses at two schools he operated in Brooklyn.
Balkany avoided prosecution by agreeing to return the money to the Department of Housing & Urban Development and to engage in "good behavior" for six months. Since then, he has kept a relatively low profile. But Balkany's large extended family has continued to write large campaign checks.
Two members of a family related to Balkany by marriage added $9,000 to Weiner's war chest. Records show Menachem and Tzippa Rubashkin each wrote checks for $4,500 on July 11, 2004 to Weiner's campaign. After being questioned by The Post about the contributions, Weiner's spokesman said he was giving the money back, "Out of an abundance of caution....However, we have and had no reason to believe that these donors did anything wrong."
The Rubashkin family operates one of the nation's largest kosher meat packaging plants, AgriProcessors Inc. in Iowa. Last year, various Rubashkin family members contributed $20,000 to Florida Rep. Katharine Harris and another $20,000 to Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter. Last Dec. 1, the Iowa plant was cited for violations of the Clean Water Act.
SOURCE http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/39041.htm
=====================================
REFERENCE The Department of Housing and Urban Development approved a 1999 tax grant to fund the building of a supposedly “sectarian” facility adjacent to Bais Yaakov, the religious day school in Brooklyn that Rabbi Balkany directs. However, Rabbi Balkany spent the $700,000 tax grant on his own life insurance, his credit-card bills, and his federal income taxes, according to a criminal complaint unsealed by Manhattan federal prosecutors.
Rabbi Balkany also diverted $300,000 of federal tax grants to an Israeli company where Balkany’s son-in-law is an officer, and another $5,000 in tax monies to a New York import company where another son-in-law is president. Rabbi Balkany escaped punishment when a lien was placed on his property.
No stranger to getting tax grants, Rabbi Balkany devised a unique lobbying technique with an aide to then-US Senator Daniel Moynihan because Rabbi Balkany believed he was not cooperating in Balkany's quest for a $25 million federal tax grant, and that the aide, David Luchins, was blocking the rabbi's requests for Moynihan's help in securing aid for Balkany’s projects.
Rabbi Balkany, a leading figure in the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the US and Canada issued a summons to Sen Moynihan’s senior aide, David Luchins---a devout member of the Orthodox congregation---to appear before a rabbinic court to answer unspecified charges. Rabbi Balkany hoped to secure an order from the Orthodox rabbinical court to coerce Luchins into behaving more sympathetically to Balkany’s requests for US government money.
Your response is hyper sensitive.
it is clear that he had numerous citations for the same issues over an extend period of time. And he got busted for illegals twice.
I am only commenting that I have seen this before and am offering a possible and reasonable explanation.
I am guessing that you are American. Many Jews overseas live in very harsh conditions. And if it comes down to feeding the family or breaking some absurd edict from a corrupt dictator, family comes first. Over time, this can shape a person’s frame of reference about laws in general. I have heard it said, “its not cheating; it is survival.” It does not matter where he was born. In some cases, the kids pick it up from the parents.
Of course there are gentiles like this as well but, in general, life is easier for them and in some cases laws are favorable to them so they have a different point of view.
I do not consider anything I said to be extreme or anti Jewish. And my comment was explicitly not referring to, as you say, all Jews. But whatever, sorry if I offended you. If the mods want to pull it, it is fine with me.
As many have said, a life sentence is ridiculous and will never stick. He is just throwing it out there. It is absurd.
Regards
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