R’ Aaron Rubashkin, Agriprocessors’ Founder, Testifies at Reb Shalom Mordechai’s Trial

The man who founded Agriprocessors Inc. testified today that he spent “every penny” he could gather to keep his kosher meat plant afloat after it was raided by immigration agents. R’ Avrohom Aaron Rubashkin, who opened the Postville slaughterhouse in 1987 to process kosher meat, told jurors that he mortgaged his home, two buildings that he owned and his store in Brooklyn, N.Y after the May 2008 raid.The effort ultimately failed, as the plant run by his two sons slipped into bankruptcy the following November. R’ Aaron, a noted baal tzedaka and baal chessed, spoke during his son’s 91-count fraud trial in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Defense lawyers called the elder Rubashkin to contest the charges.

R’ Aaron Rubashkin said he managed to gather between $4 million and $5 million from his personal assets after the raid. “We tried to get all the help we could,” he said.

He said he was unaware of any illegal immigrants working at the plant, and had trusted the plant’s human resources manager, Elizabeth Billmeyer, before the raid that snagged 389 illegal workers.

“I used to trust her. She is a very strong woman,” R’ Aaron said. “I cannot understand how this happened.”

R’ Aaron stirred whispers from supporters in the public gallery as he entered the courtroom. The Rubashkin family patriarch was sworn in, and smiled and waved at jurors as he stepped to the witness stand.

Attorneys also showed R’ Aaron Rubashkin photos, outside the jury’s presence, of the Rubashkins with prominent politicians. Included in the images were U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, and former U.S. Rep. Jim Nussle.

U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade has not allowed the photos into the trial for several reasons, including prosecutors objections that the photos lacked a legal foundation to be included in trial.

R’ Aaron Rubashkin is continuing his tetimony this afternoon.

{Des Moines Register/Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}