United States Attorney’s Office

Northern District of Iowa

United States Attorney Stephanie M. Rose

PRESS RELEASE For further information contact:

Bob Teig
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (319) 363-6333
Date: June 22, 2010 Cedar Rapids, Iowa

SHOLOM RUBASHKIN SENTENCED TO 27 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

The former CEO of Agriprocessors, Inc. was sentenced today to 27 years in

federal prison.

Sholom Rubashkin, age 50, from Postville, Iowa, received the prison term after
November 12, 2009, jury verdicts finding him guilty of 86 counts of financial fraud and
related offenses.

Evidence at trial showed Rubashkin inflated Agriprocessors’ sales in order to

fraudulently obtain millions of dollars in loans that were not backed by any collateral.
Rubashkin also diverted millions of dollars in customer payments that were supposed to
go to Agriprocessors’ primary lender. He committed money laundering by running tens
of millions of dollars through bank accounts at a Postville grocery store and a religious
school. The trial evidence showed Rubashkin was personally involved in harboring
hundreds of undocumented worker at Agriprocessors and illegally delaying payments to
Agriprocessors’ cattle suppliers. He paid for the purchase of fabricated IDs for
undocumented workers and personally inspected those documents. Evidence showed
Rubashkin’s fraud resulted in over $26 million in actual loss to Agriprocessors’ lenders.

Over a two-year time period when money was being fraudulently obtained from a
lender, Rubashkin funneled about $1.5 million from Agriprocessors’ accounts to his
personal bank accounts. The money was used, in part, to pay approximately $300,000
on his credit card bills, approximately $200,000 for a portion of the remodeling of his
residence, approximately $76,000 for his personal state and federal income tax,
approximately $41,000 for his mortgage payments on his personal residence,
approximately $25,000 for jewelry, approximately $20,000 for sterling silver, $1,245 per
month for life insurance, and $365 per month for his car payment.

“Sholom Rubashkin expended enormous efforts to hide his many crimes from the
public and law enforcement. On top of that, there have been orchestrated efforts to
spread false information intended to elicit sympathy for him. It is a tragedy that many
people were misled by this misinformation calculated to distract the public from the
truth. The truth came out at trial and sentencing,” said United States Attorney
Stephanie M. Rose. “No one won anything today as the damage caused by Mr.
Rubashkin cannot be fully tallied. However, today the house of cards he constructed
finally was brought down. When something is built on lies, it should be no surprise
when it collapses under the weight of those lies.”

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 Rubashkin was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief
Judge Linda R. Reade. His sentence was based, in part, on his leadership role in the
crimes and his efforts to obstruct justice by testifying falsely at his trial. Rubashkin was
sentenced to 324 months’ imprisonment. Special assessments of $8,600 were
imposed, and he was ordered to make $26,852,152.51 in restitution. He must also
serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in
the federal system.

“This prosecution and lengthy sentence resulted from an extensive two-year ICE
worksite enforcement operation and follow-up investigation,” said Claude Arnold,
Special Agent in Charge for the ICE Office of Investigations overseeing Iowa. “This
case serves as a warning to employers that, if you build your business on the backs of
an illegal workforce, ICE and other federal resources are there to make you pay the
price.”

The United States Attorney’s Office works to ensure victims are made whole as
quickly as possible and is seeking the public's assistance in locating or identifying
Rubashkin's assets. If anyone has information regarding Rubashkin's assets with a
significant value, they are urged to call 319-731-4080.

Rubashkin is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be
transported to a federal prison.

The investigation began in October 2007 and continued after the execution of
search warrants at Agriprocessors on May 12, 2008.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Peter Deegan,
C.J. Williams, and Matthew Cole, and the investigation has been led by U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Prior
assistance was provided by the United States Marshals Service; United States Postal
Inspections Service; Iowa Department of Public Safety; Iowa Department of
Transportation; Federal Protective Service; Internal Revenue Service – Criminal
Investigations; United States Department of Labor; Public Health Service; United States
Department of Agriculture; United States Environmental Protection Agency; Iowa
Department of Natural Resources; Drug Enforcement Administration; Waterloo Police
Department; and Postville Police Department.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is CR 08-1324 LRR.

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