Trump issues first commuted prison sentence

[Calista241]

Source: The Hill

President Trump on Wednesday issued his first commuted sentence for a federal prisoner, freeing Sholom Rubashkin, the former owner of the country’s largest kosher meat-processing plant who in 2009 was sentenced to 27 years in prison for a litany of financial crimes.

The commutation had bipartisan support from lawmakers and had become a cause among many leading voices in the legal community, petitioning the Obama and Trump administrations to draw attention to a sentence they said was wildly disproportionate to the crime that had been committed.

Rubashkin, a father of 10, will have served eight years of his sentence. The commutation is not a presidential pardon — Rubashkin’s conviction will stand, as will his terms of release and the restitution payments he will be obliged to pay.

Still, the commutation will clear Rubashkin of the remaining 19 years of a sentence that had been condemned by politicians on the left and the right as cruel and unusual.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/365907-trump-issues-first-commuted-prison-sentence

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

1. This guy is one of the worst...

... why did he get commuted? Here is some background from 11 months ago, 400 illegal immigrants working at one plant, Trump commutes his sentence:

"A federal judge has discounted new claims from former slaughterhouse executive Sholom Rubashkin that his 27-year prison sentence for bank fraud and money laundering was the result of misconduct by Iowa prosecutors following a raid at his family's Iowa plant."

<snip>

"Rubashkin, 57, oversaw operations at Agriprocessors, a large kosher meatpacking plant owned by his father in the northern Iowa town of Postville. The plant was raided by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in May 2008, leading to the arrests of nearly 400 Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants who were living and working in the country without authorization."

[link:https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2017/01/26/judge-denies-rubashkin-path-shorten-sentence/96686932/|

[Irish_Dem]

2. Maybe family and friends are big donors? nt

[greyl]

4. He didn't.

"The commutation is not a presidential pardon — Rubashkin’s conviction will stand, as will his terms of release and the restitution payments he will be obliged to pay."

From the OP article: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2017/01/26/judge-denies-rubashkin-path-shorten-sentence/96686932/

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

8. Oops...

... missed part of my edit, should be, "commuted", not, "pardoned", in the first sentence. Thanks for reading my post for intent.

[Loserman1962]

19. Recieved Complete Bi-partisan support

There must be more to this story than we are seeing because everyone applauded this move.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

20. The largest illegals raid in history at that time...

... my dad is a retired federal Inspector in Charge. My brother is a current IiC. This was a warning to Tyson/IBP. Floor supervisors would openly tell known Mexican illegals, on the work floor (at Dakota City, Neb plant) to, "go on home and see your family. When you are ready to come back, call me personally and I will see to it you get back through at the border".

And other shenanigans to drive down workers wages.

"The raid was the largest single raid of a workplace in U.S. history until that date, and resulted in nearly 400 arrests of immigrant workers with false identity papers who were charged with identity theft, document fraud, use of stolen social security numbers, and related offenses. Some 300 workers were convicted on document fraud charges within four days. The majority served a five-month prison sentence before being deported."

[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postville_raid|

There also were issues at a kosher plant at that time in Bridgewater, SD, which came to a head:

"‘This is worse than rotten bodies’
The saga of the smell began in January 2008, when owner Ilan Parente closed Bridgewater Quality Meats and moved the business to Dawson, Minn., as Noah's Ark Processors LLC. He left the boxed kosher bison meat behind, apparently to be sold to a pet food company. It stayed frozen until the electricity was cut off in December for lack of payment.

When the town about 40 miles away from Sioux Falls began to warm in the spring, the smell began to creep out. Some said the scent was like road kill. The mayor said he spent two tours of duty in Vietnam and could not recall smelling anything as bad."

]http://www.nbcnews.com/id/33165124/ns/us_news-life/t/tons-rotting-meat-stink-sd-town/#.Wjym91WnHtQ

This mainstreet small town facility was right behind my uncle's home in Bridgewater. So as you can imagine, it all left an, "impression", upon me.

And here we are! Trump ran on getting rid of immigrant workers that take American jobs. Iowa did then and does now have a significant meth problem in the towns where the meat packers hire hundreds of immigrants.

"The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa said in a statement released today that the large drug trafficking network was dismantled by several law enforcement agencies after a two-and-one-half-year investigation that began in Feb. 2007.

In addition to the 21 people sentenced in federal court, seven additional defendants were sentenced in Dickinson, Clay and Buena Vista county district courts. Two other suspects were not prosecuted but were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials for deportation."

[link:http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/sentenced-to-federal-prison-in-meth-network/article_ab3c36b6-ca44-11de-9614-001cc4c03286.html|

[Angry Dragon]

3. but if you smoke pot you get 30 years

[FakeNoose]

5. Why didn't the Governor of Iowa do this?

It doesn't make sense that Trump stepped into this case, it should be handled by the Governor.
Doesn't the GOP always holler about states' rights and keep the federal government out of it?

[TomSlick]

6. It's a federal conviction. The State Governor has no authority to commute a federal conviction.

Just like Trump can't protect his co-conspirators from possible state charges.

[24601]

15. And there was nothing for the Governor to commute or pardon. The state prosecuted child labor

allegations, but he was acquitted of all those charges on 2010 and that case was expunged in 2016.

[Ohiya]

10. Definitely not always...

but, just when it suits them!

[john657]

24. This was federal, not state,

the Governor has no say in it.

[Rollo]

7. He's just warming up for...

Flynn

Kushners

Sessions

Pence

Hisself


.

[AKing]

9. Rod Blagojevich is another one serving a disproportionate sentence

[7962]

11. This had support from many Dems and Repubs; rare for a valid case.

Maybe the blind squirrel found a nut

[rsdsharp]

12. His sentence was so severe because his activities went on for years

and he showed absolutely no remorse. In addition, he brought in hundreds of undocumented workers, and ripped them off -- although that wasn't the crime for which he was convicted.

This guy really is a piece of work. He would buy things (like dozens of computers), not pay, and then negotiate a settlement. After the settlement was agreed to he would again refuse to pay -- and again negotiate downward. Fraud is this guy's middle name.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

21. And it was the largest raid of illegals and child labor up to that point...

... law enforcement and meth issues were big in Iowa at that time. See my above post for background.

[JHB]

23. So, an operator after Trumps own heart, or whatever it is that pumps his ichor...

No wonder Meathouse Man got the commutation.

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. Ever since 2008, I am more and more and more in favor of treating financial crime worse than murder

Murder is killing one guy - or America, I guess one needs to average about four of them nowadays -

financial misdealing affects hundreds, tens of thousands, and even potentially hundreds of millions.

Why do we treat financial fraud so less severely than murder? Because the rich people who make the laws are more likely to be shady businesspeople than murderers.

Keep the SOB locked up, I say. How many more lives did he ruin as compared to murdering just one person?

Fuckers.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

22. I concur ...

... and how many of those financial fraud crimes lead to mental issues and, "crimes of need", by those they cheated?

[Bayard]

14. Why single this one guy out?

Obviously wealthy. Someone must have lobbied for him.

Why not someone like...........oh, say, Leonard Peltier?

[Floyd R. Turbo]

16. Recall a segment on American Greed about this guy. A total scumbag!

If memory serves, he was never tried on the immigration charges which were “dismissed without prejudice”.

[Nash Teeth]

17. Singled out because Feds seemed punitive to family

It will probably be spun as an example of corruption in character of DOJ, thus supporting the negative opinion WH would like people to have about DOJ.

[dembotoz]

18. So the build a wall guy goes soft on the guy who employs hundreds of the folks trump wants to deport

Ok?