Indictment in illegal alien case

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A federal grand jury has indicted an Iowa meatpacking company where a raid found hundreds of illegal aliens were working and its former chief executive officer.

Four other Agriprocessors executives were also named in a 12-count indictment handed up Thursday by a federal grand jury in Cedar Rapids, the U.S. Justice Department said in a press release.

Agriprocessors, the nation's largest kosher meatpacker, and Sholom Rubashkin, 49, of Postville, who was CEO at the time of the raid, were charged with conspiracy to harbor undocumented aliens for profit; harboring undocumented aliens for profit; conspiracy to commit document fraud; and other charges involving identity theft and bank fraud.

The operations manager, two poultry managers and the human resources administrator are also charged.

Immigration agents arrested 389 employees during a raid in May.

Agriprocessors' problems triggered a nationwide shortage of kosher meat. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month, after being slapped with $10 million in fines from the Iowa labor commissioner's office.

The company provided about 60 percent of the nation's kosher meat supply before it was raided by immigration officials. Agriprocessors suffered a worker shortage and debts accumulated after the raid.

The shortage of kosher meat drove up prices for delis.