Thread: First Criminal Charges Filed Against Agriprocessors Owners

First Criminal Charges Filed Against Agriprocessors Owners

Iowa Attorney General Alleges More Than 9,000 Counts of Child Labor

By Nathaniel Popper
Tue. Sep 09, 2008

The first criminal charges were filed against the owners of the country’s largest kosher slaughterhouse, Agriprocessors, in connection with a May immigration raid at the plant.

The Iowa attorney general filed more than 9,000 separate child labor charges against the company, its human resources mangers and members of the family that owns the plant, including Aaron Rubashkin, CEO of the company, and Sholom Rubashkin, who had overseen operations at the Postville, Iowa, slaughterhouse.

“All of the named individual Defendants possessed shared knowledge that Agriprocessors employed undocumented aliens,â€

State hits Postville execs with child-labor charges
TONY LEYS • tleys@dmreg.com • September 9, 2008

Agriprocessors’ owner and four of the meatpacking plant’s executives could face jail time under criminal charges filed today by the Iowa attorney general’s office.

Critics have complained for months that while hundreds of the Postville company’s former employees are sitting in jail on immigration charges, company leaders had not been held accountable.

The misdemeanor charges allege a total of 9,311 child labor violations, involving 32 youths under the age of 18, the attorney general’s office said.

Those charged are:

• Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, company owner;

• Sholom Rubashkin, Abraham Rubaskin's his son and longtime company leader;

• Elizabeth Billmeyer, human-resources manager;

• and Laura Althouse and Karina Freund, human-resources employees.

Requests for comment were not immediately returned.

Click here to read the official complaint and affidavit: http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/la ... PLAINT.pdf

The Postville plant was the site of a May immigration raid, in which nearly 400 workers were arrested for being in the country illegally. In the wake of that raid, accusations of worker abuse, including child labor, have arisen.

The Iowa Division of Labor alleged in August that the company had been employing dozens of underage workers, and it recommended that the attorney general file charges.

Company leaders have denied knowingly hiring workers who were underage or in the country illegally. But the attorney general’s office disputed that claim today.

“All of the named individual defendants possessed shared knowledge that Agriprocessors employed undocumented aliens,â€

Meatpacking Plant Accused Of Child Labor Violations

POSTED: 12:12 pm CDT September 9, 2008
UPDATED: 12:21 pm CDT September 9, 2008

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Iowa attorney general's office filed child labor charges Tuesday against Agriprocessors meatpacking company.

The complaint alleges more than 9,000 violations of Iowa's child labor law at the plant in Postville.

Those violations involved 32 children younger than 18, including seven who were younger than 16, according to the Associated Press.

The plant was the site of one of the largest single-site immigration raids in the nation, with nearly 400 illegal workers being detained.

The attorney general's office said the child labor law violations happened from Sept. 9, 2007 to May 12, 2008.

The company also operates a plant near Gordon, Neb.
http://www.ketv.com/news/17429899/detail.html

Agriprocessors charged with over 9,000 child labor law violations
By Lynda Waddington 9/9/08 11:59 AM

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has filed a criminal complaint and affidavit today in Allamakee County District Court listing more than 9,000 alleged violations of Iowa child labor laws at Agriprocessors in Postville.

Those named in the court documents are:

Abraham Aaron Rubashkin — principal owner and president of Agriprocessors, Inc.
Sholom M. Rubashkin — Son of Aaron, manager of the slaughtering and meat packing plant at Postville and a company officer.
Elizabeth Billmeyer — human resources manager of Agriprocessors, Inc. and a resident of Postville.
Laura Althouse — management employee in the human resources department at Agriprocessors in Postville.
Karina Freund — management employee in the human resources department at Agriprocessors in Postville.

A total of 9,311 child labor violations, involving 32 minors under the age of 18, are included in the court documents. Seven of the 32 minors were under the age of 16. The alleged violations range from September 2007 to May 12 of this year — the date of the massive federal immigration raid on the plant. All violations are simple misdemeanors, each punishable by up to 30 days in jail and/or a fine of $65 to $625.

An initial appearance has been scheduled before Iowa District Court Judge John Bauercamper for Sept. 17 in Allamakee County.

From the documents filed with the court:

[quote]“During the period of Sept. 9, 2007, through May 12, 2008, the persons as listed as employee-victims in the attached Complaint were employed and permitted to work at Agriprocessors’ slaughtering and meat packing establishment. All were under eighteen years of age on each of the dates listed. Throughout their employment these children were exposed to dangerous and/or poisonous chemicals, including, but not limited to, dry ice and chlorine solutions. Several of these employee-victims were also under sixteen years of age during the dates for which they are identified as such in the Complaint. Throughout their employment, these children, while under sixteen years of age, were employed in the operation of or tending of power-driven machinery, including, but not limited to, conveyor belts, meat grinders, circular saws, power washers, and power shears.â€

How did they determine the age? By blood test?

I have known place hiring under age illegal, the states do not care!

The meaty factual truth about the History of America's Greedy People.

More than Sad isn't it?

I am "surprised" the ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS have not been charged with hiring their ILLEGALS.

Heavy Fines and Felony Jail Time for ILLEGAL EMPLOYERS!!! Remember the ILLEGAL EMPLOYER Robert Camp in Houston and the murder of the Police Officer by his ILLEGAL EMPLOYEE!!!!!

Just follow the money my friend. The "political contributors" will get their "cheap labor" and not have to furnish any "benefits" because all the "benefits" for the ILLEGALS will be “socializedâ€

Update: Agriprocessors execs face state child-labor charges; two also charged by feds
TONY LEYS and JENNIFER JACOBS • tleys@dmreg.com • September 9, 2008

Read Comments(59)Recommend (5)
Postville, Ia. — Agriprocessors’ owner and four executives at the meatpacking plant could face jail time under a slew of criminal charges filed Tuesday.

The five were each charged with 9,311 child labor violations, all involving 32 youths under age 18, according to the state attorney general’s office. Seven of the workers were younger than 16.


Click here to read the official complaint and affidavit.

Court documents allege the underage workers were exposed to poisonous chemicals such as dry ice and chlorine solutions. Some were employed to operate power-driven machinery such as conveyor belts, meat grinders, circular saws, power washers, and power shears.

Agriprocessors leaders said the youths lied about their age to get hired and the company was not at fault.

Separately, federal authorities on Tuesday charged two of the executives with felonies. They were accused of helping compile fake human resources paperwork for employees even though they allegedly knew the workers were undocumented immigrants.

Critics have complained for months that while hundreds of the Postville company’s former employees are sitting in jail on immigration charges, company leaders had not been held accountable. They hailed Tuesday’s news.

Meanwhile, a state senator and Postville’s mayor said they’d like to see government agencies work with Agriprocessors to see if problems can be corrected – and 800 jobs saved.

Company spokesman Chaim Abrahams said he doesn’t see why production at the plant would be interrupted by the new criminal charges. And Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said the government’s action Tuesday will not force the plant to shut down.

But a kosher-certification agency on Tuesday made demands on Agriprocessors that, if unmet, could hurt the meatpacker’s sales. The agency puts a seal on products that meet strict rules many Jews follow.

Those facing state misdemeanor charges are company owner Abraham Aaron Rubashkin; his son, longtime company leader Sholom Rubashkin, 48; human-resources manager Elizabeth Billmeyer; and human-resources employees Laura Althouse, 38, and Karina Freund, 29. The penalty for each count is 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $625.

In addition, Althouse faces three felony charges and Freund one felony. A federal criminal complaint states that on May 11, the day before a massive immigration raid, Althouse helped employees who had already been hired to complete new applications with new names using newly acquired false identification documents.

The complaint against Freund states that several former Agriprocessors employees, all of whom are undocumented, have told investigators that she helped them obtain false identity documents.

Abrahams, who is the plant’s purchasing manager and serves as a spokesman for its owners, said in an interview Tuesday that Agriprocessors’ leaders look forward to their day in court.

In a prepared statement, he said whenever the company received notice that one of its workers might be underage, the company investigated and fired any minors.

“All of the minors at issue lied about their age in order to gain employment at the company. At the time of hiring, all of the minors, like all job applicants, presented and signed documents stating that they were over 18,â€

There is a PRO ILLEGAL and PRO ILLEGAL EMPLOYER blogger commenting in support of the Agriprocessors’ owner and their executives on the following article that is included above in this post.

http://iowaindependent.com/5235/agripro ... violations