Trump Commutes Jail Sentence Of Sholom Rubashkin, Kosher Meat Exec
Image by Forward Montage
By Josh Nathan-Kazis December 20, 2017
Jailed kosher meat executive Sholom Rubashkin, whose Iowa-based meatpacking firm, Agriprocessors, was the subject of what at the time was the largest immigration raid in U.S. history, will go free following a commutation issued Wednesday evening by President Trump.
Rubashkin’s firm was the subject of a major Forward investigative series in 2006 and 2007. The Forward uncovered poor treatment of workers and animals at the plant.
In 2009, Rubashkin was found guilty of 86 counts of bank fraud and sentenced to 27 years in prison. In the years since, the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic group, of which he is a member, and other Orthodox Jews have campaigned for his freedom.
In a statement, the White House said that the commutation was not a pardon. “It does not vacate Mr. Rubashkin’s conviction, and it leaves in place a term of supervised release and a substantial restitution obligation,” the White House said.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
