Washington – President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of an Iowa kosher meatpacking executive who was sentence to 27 years in prison for money laundering.
The commutation is Trump’s first in office and comes following the encouragement of multiple members of congress and other high-ranking officials who argued the sentence was too harsh.
The report noted that no pardon has been issued to Rubashkin and that he will still be subjected to supervised release and a “substantial restitution obligation.”
Sholom Rubashkin ran the Iowa headquarters of a family business that was the country’s largest kosher meat-processing company.
Rubashkin was convicted in 2009 of financial fraud for bilking the plant’s bank by submitting fake invoices that made the company’s finances appear healthier than they were so that it could borrow more. His prosecution came after federal authorities raided the plant and arrested 389 illegal immigrants in 2008.
He has served more than eight years of his sentence.
Rubashkin’s long-time attorney Guy Cook praised the decision, saying his client “has finally received justice.”
“The sentence previously imposed was unfair, unjust and essential a life sentence,” he said via email. “President Trump has done what is right and just. The unrelenting efforts on Rubashkin’s behalf have finally paid off.”
But former prosecutor Bob Teig, who retired in 2011 after serving as a prosecutor and spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, said Trump’s decision to commute Rubashkin’s sentence “makes no sense” given Trump’s repeated promises to get tougher on illegal immigration.
Teig said that every court that looked at Rubashkin’s sentence had concluded it was fair, and suggested that former Justice Department officials and lawmakers who supported leniency were unaware of the facts of the case.
“The outrage is backwards,” he said.
Former High-Ranking DOJ Officials Who Have Expressed Support for Review of Mr. Rubashkins Case
Attorney General Bill Barr*__*
Attorney General Edwin Meese III*__*
Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Solicitor General Seth Waxman
FBI Director Louis Freeh
Current Members of Congress Who Have Expressed Support For Review of Mr. Rubashkins Case
Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)
Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Representative Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
Representative Mike Coffman (R-CO)
Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL)
Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY)
Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
Representative Steve King (R-IA)
Representative Jerry Nadler (D-NY)
Representative Richard Neal (D-MA)
Representative Tom McClintock (R-CA)
Representative Tom Marino (R-PA)
Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
Representative Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)
Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Representative Ted Poe (R-TX)
Representative Jared Polis (D-CO)
Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL)
Representative Tom Reed (R-NY)
Representative Tom Rooney (R-FL)
Representative John Sarbanes (D-MD)
Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA)
Representative Albio Sires (D-NJ)
Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ)
Representative Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)
As reported by Vos Iz Neias