Rubashkin released from prison

January 29, 2009

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NEW YORK (JTA) -- Former kosher meatpacking executive Sholom Rubashkin was released on bail.

Rubashkin was freed Wednesday afternoon from the Dubuque County jail after posting $500,000 bond and being fitted with an ankle bracelet.

The former manager of the Agriprocessors kosher meat plant in Postville, Iowa, Rubashkin was arrested twice last year on a range of charges including bank fraud, money laundering and helping illegal immigrants procure fake documentation.

A federal magistrate judge, invoking Israel's Law of Return, ruled late last year that Rubashkin posed a flight risk and should be detained until trial. The ruling prompted protests to the U.S. attorney general from several national Jewish groups warning that it set a precedent that could be used to deny bail to Jewish defendants purely on the basis of their religion.

Rubashkin's attorneys appealed the ruling and on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Linda Reade ruled that while Rubashkin remains a flight risk, reasonable measures could be taken to ensure his appearance at trial.

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