Associated Press Sholom Rubashkin The U.S. Department of Justice won’t answer several Orthodox rabbis’ call to intervene in Sholom Rubashkin’s case, saying there’s nothing more to do for the ex-Agriprocessors’ executive who’s been convicted of financial fraud and is waiting behind bars to find out his sentence. As Bankruptcy Beat previously reported , seven rabbis traveled to Washington, D.C., in January seeking remedy for what they said deemed overly harsh and unjust treatment of Rubashkin, whose kosher meatpacking plant was the site of a massive federal immigration raid and later filed for bankruptcy protection. The rabbis delivered a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder requesting his consideration of the case, including Rubashkin’s claim that his imprisonment prevented him from practicing his religion. According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency , the rabbis received their answer last week. “Mr. Rubashkin has fully litigated the issue of whether detention pending sentencing is appropriate,” wrote H. Marshall Jarrett, a Justice Department official. “Both the district court and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals have determined that Mr. Rubashkin is a flight risk. We are sorry that we cannot be of further assistance in responding to your concerns.” Rubashkin’s received a string of bad news lately, with a federal judge’s recent rejection of his plea for acquittal and a new trial. That followed a U.S. appeals court’s announcement that it wouldn’t consider his request to be released on bail. Rubashkin is currently sitting in an Iowa jail cell as he awaits his sentence for the 86 counts of financial fraud a federal jury found him guilty of last fall. But the bad news doesn’t mean Rubashkin won’t stop fighting for a reprieve from his cell. “Sholom Rubashkin is a very religious man who has proposed that he be imprisoned pending his sentencing under 24-hour armed guard at his home, where he can engage fully in religious observances,” Rubashkin’s lawyer, Nathan Lewin, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “There is no basis in law and no reason to keep him in a local jail until he is sentenced in April.”
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Justice Department Stays Out Of Rubashkin Case