Supreme Court Rejects Rubashkin's Appeal of 27-Year Sentence

Washington - The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a 27-year prison term issued to a former kosher slaughterhouse executive convicted of financial fraud following a huge immigration raid at the Iowa plant.

The Supreme Court declined Monday to consider an appeal filed by former Agriprocessors Inc. vice president Sholom Rubashkin.

He was convicted of a scheme to cheat the Postville plant’s lender out of $27 million by submitting fake invoices that made its finances appear healthier than they were. His arrest came after immigration authorities raided the plant and arrested 389 illegal immigrants.

Rubashkin had argued that U.S. District Judge Linda Reade could not be impartial because she met with investigators to plan the immigration raid. He also argued his prison term was too long for a first-time, nonviolent offender.